Toy Story 4: But Different
by avatarmerida
Summary: This is just the direction I thought they'd go with the fourth movie when it was first announced like two years ago. Not exactly an AU, but kinda. This fic has everything: Romance. Flashbacks. Bo? Woody always said no toy left behind, but there was always one toy he couldn't save. But it's never too late. LOTS of Buzz/Jessie, Woody/Bo
1. Wedding of the Century

"Oh no no no, this is all wrong," Ken exclaimed, frantically running around his dream house. "This cummerbund clashes with the flowers we got but this one washes me out! This is a nightmare!"

In his hands he dramatically presented what appeared to Woody and Buzz to be two identical pieces of fabric. The pair exchanged a look, not knowing the appropriate response.

"Uh," began Buzz. "What about... no cummerbund?"

"No cummerbund?"repeated Ken as though the very idea could kill him. "But the Romantic Wedding Dream set wouldn't be complete without it! I can't let Babs down on our big day! Oh what a disaster!" He dropped to the ground, buried his head in hands and began to sob.

Woody sighed. "I got this," he said quietly to Buzz. "Hey Ken," he sat on the ground beside him and gently placed his hand on Ken's shoulder.

"I mean, every boy dreams of his big day and what if I go out there and she sees my outfit and changes her mind?"

"She's not gonna change her mind,"

"Well she's never seen me in salmon, she might,"he sniffled.

"Ken, Barbie loves you. I promise." Said Woody with a small chuckle.

"I know," said Ken, slightly embarrassed. "I just want everything to be perfect for her."

"I understand, but this day isn't about everything being perfect. It's about celebrating what you feel for each other and sharing that with your friends. Heck, Barbie would marry you if you were wearing a plastic bag."

Ken chuckled. "I know you're trying to cheer me up but don't even joke about that."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room Jessie, Trixie, and Dolly were helping Barbie get ready with much less drama.

"Oh! Isn't this exciting girls?" exclaimed Barbie, as she twirled around the makeshift dressing room they had made for her on the cubby shelf. She looked at herself again in the hand held mirror Jessie had found. "Thanks for helping me get ready."

"Of course!" said Jessie as she braided Barbie's hair, decorating it with ribbons as she tied it with a rubber band.

"I'm so glad it fits!" Barbie said with delight, clapping her hands. "It's right out of the box!"

"So, how did Mr. Hair Gel pop the question?" asked Dolly

"Oh, it's so romantic! Someone donated a bunch of doll clothes brand new and when Ken saw this he said "we should get married' and I said 'okay'!"

"A love story for the ages," marveled Trixie.

"And thank you all for coming, it means so much to me,"

"Our pleasure," said Dolly. "Lucky for us Bonnie has a hard time picking just one thing for show and tell. I'm assuming the reception is open bar?"

Barbie laughed again, unable to contain herself. "Oh, I'm just so happy I could just… I promised I wasn't going to but I just.. It's so…" Overcome with emotion, she began to wail loudly, much to the discomfort of her company.

"Hey, uh, isn't recess almost over?" tried Jessie, hoping to change the subject. "We better get you out there!"

"Oh you're right!" she trilled, her mood changing immediately. She checked the mirror again, putting on the final touches, brightening by her lips with a pink magic marker and then carefully placing her veil on her head. The set hadn't come with a veil so they had to improvise by tying several tissues together to create a length Barbie was satisfied with. "Alright! I'm ready! How do I look?"

"Like a princess!" exclaimed Trixie. "Or a very wealthy heiress."

"Oh thank you!" beamed the bride, smoothing out her gown. "I hope I can remember this day for the rest of my liiiiiife…" her lip began to tremble and it was clear she was on the verge of crying again.

"Well here comes the bride, let's go!" declared Jessie, grabbing Barbie's arm before she could begin to cry again.

The toys had gathered in the center of the classroom for the ceremony. They had crafted benches out of legos and blocks and placed them to form an aisle for Barbie to walk down.

"Oh isn't it so romantic?" mused Mrs. Potatohead to her husband.

"Yeah, yeah I guess," he said, less enthused. "We didn't need to bring a gift did we?"

Ken stood anxiously at the altar as Mr. Pricklepants ran through his vocal warmu ps. He had insisted on officiating the ceremony and no one had dared protest.

"Marriage, Mirage, Marri-ah-ge," the porcupine whispered to himself with vigor.

"Oh, what's taking so long?" Ken wondered aloud, tugging at his collar. "Maybe she saw the cummerbund and turned around. Is there time to change? Have I ruined everything already?"

"Oh that would be dramatic!" Exclaimed Pricklepants, an idea forming in his mind. "Nothing makes a wedding more memorable than disaster! Do you think someone will object? If so, I may need to alter my monologue. Or add another."

"What?" Exclaimed Ken who would've been sweating if he could.

"It's fine," assured Buzz, standing next to him acting as best man. "Look."

First down the aisle came Big Baby, carrying a bucket filled with paper flowers. He was supposed to distribute them evenly as he walked down the aisle but instead he came to the end and dumped them out all at once. He stumbled off to the side to sit down and when he did Ken saw Barbie for the first time. The dress truly was a sight, so wide it barely fit down the aisle, the hoop skirt covered in frills and beads. The sleeves were long and lacey, and in her hands she carried a bouquet of paper flowers the children had made during arts and crafts. Once their eyes locked, the pair struggled to hold back their tears. The closer Barbie got, the more apparent their sobs became until she reached her betrothed and they both were full out wailing.

"Ah! I love you so much!" sobbed Barbie.

"I love you so much!" sobbed Ken back, taking her hands.

"You look so handsome!"

"Thank you so much for saying that, I was really worried!"

"Well, there's no question that they deserve each other," Woody whispered to Buzz as the couple continued to sob and compliment each other.

Mr. Pricklepants cleared his throat dramatically. "Do we have the rings?"

"Right here!" Said Jessie, standing beside Barbie acting as the maid of honor. She ushered Bullseye forward, who carried two homemade rings composed of pipe cleaners, glitter, and press on gems.

"Oh it's so sparkly!" Barbie exclaimed happily.

"Only the best for you, Babs," said Ken. Taking them from the horse.

"How much do you think you could pawn those for?" Whispered Buttercup to Hamm from their seats.

"Looks to me like 10, maybe 15 cents," he responded.

"He definitely went name brand on the glitter,"

Barbie swooned and bounced in excitement as Ken slipped the over-sized ring onto her wrist (though, in fairness, it acted more as a bracelet). They looked into each other's eyes when Stretch called out from the door.

"Recess is over!" She yelled. "They're coming!"

All the toys fell to the ground where they stood or sat, as the children entered the room. The ceremony was held in the Butterfly room so the children came back in a nice, orderly line. Two little girls sat at the wedding scene and picked up Ken and Barbie to continue the ceremony.

"Oh I'm so glad the volcano didn't erupt before our wedding!" said one little girl holding Barbie.

"I've always wanted to get married by a volcano!" Said the other, speaking for Ken. "We better get married quick!"

They acted out the rest of the wedding ceremony, exchanging vows and directing Pricklelants as they had seen grown ups do on TV and movies. They spent the rest of playtime creating an elaborate love story for the couple, adding a few tweaks to make the story more interesting.

"All right! Line up for lunch time!" Came the the teachers voice from the door. The girls carefully placed the dolls done, satisfied with how the wedding turned out and ran to join. The children eagerly followed the teacher out to the cafeteria.

"All clear!" announced Rex happily as the last child left and the teacher locked the room for lunchtime.

"Time for the reception!" declared Ken excitedly, jumping in the air.

Twitch turned on the CD player, putting on a mixed CD Trixie and Rex had made for the event. The room filled with music as all the toys went to dance and congratulate the happy couple.

"Oh, it was such a lovely ceremony," said Mrs. Potatohead to the newlyweds. "Reminded me of our wedding, didn't it dear?"

"Oh that's so sweet!" exclaimed Ken, placing his arm around Barbie. "Who performed your wedding?"

"Oh it was a Christmas wedding, very sudden. We didn't even have time to register."

"Well, if you ever want to renew your vows, I'd be happy to help you pick out the color scheme!" said Ken.

"Yes, oh sweetheart! We should renew our vows!" she shrieked happily to her husband. "Oh my goodness! What an idea! Now you can finally get me a ring! Oh let's go tell the children!"  
"Whatever you say dear!" said Mr. Potatohead as she dragged him away. He glared at Ken as they turned around and whispered to him "Thanks alot."

Woody watched from the side as his friends pranced around the room, dancing and laughing as the music played. He saw Buzz walk up beside Jessie, who was looking around the room with excitement.

He cleared his throat and stood as tall as he could manage. "Jessie? I- I was wondering if you'd maybe like to, if I could have the honor of-."

She turned around quickly, happy to see him and immediately grabbed his hand before he could finish.

"Come on Buzz! Let's dance!" Jessie sang as she tugged on his hand and led him to the dance floor.

"Really?" said Buzz, surprised for some reason, trailing happily behind her. "Yes, I mean okay, I could-."

Just before they made it to the center of the room, the song changed from the upbeat pop song to a slow love ballad. Buzz stood in front of the cowgirl, his former confidence fading. He smiled nervously.

"Oh, uh," said Buzz shyly, kicking the floor. "Did you want to wait for the next song?."

"Don't try and tell me you don't dance," she teased, raising an eyebrow.

"Heh, no um," he tried, nervously rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "I just… don't know this song."

"Well it's a slow song, you don't have to do much," she said sweetly, swinging his arm and stepping closer to him.

"Yes, well it's um very, it's just that I wouldn't..." he stuttered, his eyes darting back and forth from her face to their adjoined hands. She tilted her head and smiled at the familiarity of his nerves. Before he knew what was happening she quietly placed his hands on her waist and placed hers gently on his shoulders. They stood still for a moment and once Buzz realized what she had done, he relaxed and they began to sway. He sheepishly looked in her eyes, and she gave him a playful wink. He suddenly felt silly for being nervous. Jessie tightened her grip and brought him closer, resting her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Her hat brushed against his forehead and a smile found it way onto his face and he looked at her peaceful expression. Before, being this close to her would make Buzz uneasy, but now it felt natural. He looked over to Woody and gave a thumbs up, as though he had planned this.

Woody chuckled at the pair, and have his pal and thumbs up in response. He wondered if Buzz knew she had lead him a block so he stood a little taller so could rest her head on his shoulder easier. He sighed as Ken and Barbie also took to the dance floor in a similar pose, gushing about how happy they were.

"She woulda loved this," said Slinky as he sat beside Woody. Woody didn't even need to ask who Slinky meant. It was obvious.

"Yeah, she would've," agreed Woody with another sigh.

"Ever wonder what she's up to?"

"Every day, Slink," Woody said sadly, "Every day."

**Eight Years Earlier**

"Buzz! Buzz! Come quick! The water hole's been poisoned!" Exclaimed Andy frantically as Jessie.

"Again?" Andy adopted a deeper voice for the voice of the space toy. "Blast! But the orphans have their swim practice there!"

"We gotta warn em!" Jessie declared. "But how are gonna figure out who did it?"

"There's only one cowboy for the job!" Buzz said. The world around him transformed from Andy's room to a spacious desert where all his best adventures took place.

Jessie nodded. "Yodel-eh-e-hoo!" She called loudly. In Andy's mind, the yodel echoed to the corners of the earth. The pair waited anxiously for a response.

"Where could he be?" Jessie asked nervously.

"There's only one reason Sheriff Woody wouldn't answer a call for help," stated Buzz, running his chin. "He's been kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped?!"

"By the most devious villain in the universe…"

"Evil Dr. Porkchop!" they exclaimed in unison.

Sure enough, across town (or rather closer to the bed) Evil Dr. Porkchop had Woody tied up and dangled over a barrel of equally evil monkeys.

"Ha ha ha!" The pig laughed as the cow boy struggled to loosen the jump rope that bound him.

"You'll never get away with this!" Woody declared.

"Oh, but I already have!" The swine cackled. "And once you're out of the picture, the town will be mine!"

"My friends will rescue me!"

"Not if they can't find you!" Declared the pig triumphantly. "All across town I've planted crimes to distract them. They'll never reach you in time! Ha ha ha!"

Buzz and Jessie made their way to Woody the best they could, Jessie riding on Bullseye and Buzz taking to the sky.

"Any sign of him?" The cowgirl called up.

"Not yet," Buzz responded. "But we need to hurry!"

The pair moved forward faster, when Bullseye stopped dead in his tracks. "What's wrong boy?" Jessie asked, but the answer quickly makes itself apparent. In front of the water hole stood Woody's trusted dinosaur but he looked down menacingly at Jessie.

"Oh no!" Jessie exclaimed. "The water! It wasn't poisoned! It has mind control potion!"

The Dino roared aggressively at her, confirming her suspicion. The large reptile charged at her, but she and Bullseye dodged at the last second.

"Buzz!" She called.

"On it!" He said, swooping down firing his laser, but the dinosaur was impervious and kept attacking. On the ground, Jessie and Bullseye ran around his feet and she was able to lasso the creature's ankles, bringing him to the ground. Once he was immobilized, Jessie sprang into action to tie the knot.

"Got cha!" She declared proudly. "Looks like a new record!"

"Way to go!" Buzz said proudly, landing on the ground to admire her handiwork. "Now, time to-."

"Buzz! Look out!" Exclaimed Jessie, jumping on him bringing them both to the ground. The space ranger blushed upon realizing the cowgirl laid on his chest, but quickly regained composure when he saw the reason why. The Dino has broken free! "Tarnation!" She exclaimed, jumping back into action. She pulled another rope from Bullseye's saddle and this time lassoed the reptile's neck. He retaliated and pulled her up and she ended up sitting on his back.

"Jessie!" Buzz called, concerned.

"Go find Woody, spaceman!" She called to him without fear, riding the dinosaur as though it was a bucking bronco. "This ain't my first rodeo! Ye-haw!"

The ranger nodded and took back to the sky. He flew hundreds of miles in minutes, scanning the area for signs of his best friend. "I'm coming Woody!"

Suddenly, his jet pack began to sputter causing his balance to waver. "What?" He said, liking at the dark smoke forming behind him. Before he could investigate further, one side exploded! The helpless ranger was sent spiraling down to the ground, hitting the sand hard. "What's happening?!"

"Houston, looks like we have a problem," laughed a nefarious voice.

Buzz didn't even need to look up to know who had spoken. "One-eyed Bart," he spat as the shadow covered him. "I should've known!"

"Looks like you won't be completing your mission, space-case!"

"What have you done with Woody?!"

"It isn't Woody you should be worried about," the villain declared. He brought his fingers to his mouth and let out a high pitched whistle. From behind him, a familiar light arose, one-eyed Betty rode in on their infamous force field dog, laughing wildly. The dog surrounded Buzz and he suddenly felt weak, falling to his knees in pain.

"We've upgraded to a new force field," declared Betty. "Ultra powerful Nella Prime magnets! Compliments of Evil Emperor Zurg!"

"Zurg!" Buzz struggled to speak and the magnets continued to drain his life force. "I… should've… known…"

The pair continued to laugh as he tried to fight the pain. He couldn't fly away, could barely stand. He knew he would never reach Woody now!

"Give it up ranger, you and your friends are finished!"

Buzz turned to see behind him and saw in horror that the dinosaur has thrown Jessie off his back and now had her and Bullseye cornered beneath a boulder. One roar and it would roll down and crush them! Jessie's face remained courageous though Bullseye was shaking in fear behind her. But she knew she was stuck.

"There's no one left to save you!" Betty laughed, standing beside her partner in crime.

"There is… one… person…" Buzz said to himself, with his last bit of strength, he popped open the communicator on his wrist. "Get me… special agent… Peep."

He fell to the ground in exhaustion, luckily his message had gotten sent before he did. It flew across the globe and finally reached the green army men who had set up base on the outskirts of town (or the other side of the bed).

"Sir!" Called the private saluting as he burst through the door. "We have new orders! Commander Lightyear is calling for… Agent Peep."

"Are you outta your mind Private?" The sarge yelled, slamming his fist on the table. "She retired years ago! There's no way she'd take on a mission!"

"But sir it's… the sheriff."

"Send a unit ASAP! Code red! This is not a drill boys! Move, move, move!"

R.C. acted as the special unit, locking onto Bo Peep's last known coordinates. "Sir, are you sure she'll agree to help?" panicked the private as they called the to contact Peep on the large computer screen.

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested," came Bo's voice thought the screen. Before she could hang up, the sarge called out.

"Wait! Miss Peep!"

"Sarge, I'm retired!"

"Dr. Porkchop has your Sheriff!"

A pause.

"Sheriff Woody?" The voice said quietly. "I haven't heard that name in years."

"We need you and your sheep to track him down and save him!"

"Send your men to surround the perimeter," she said. "No doubt that dirty swine has an escape route planned."

"You'll do it?"

"Sheriff Woody saved me and my sheep from Porkchop before and I'm just doing it to return the favor," she said, still not appearing on the screen. "Send the unit."

The transmission ended and the army men flew into action. The scene faded as Andy grabbed R.C.'s controller and sent him towards Molly's room.

"Special Agent Peep is on her way!" Declared Andy, jumping up to follow the car into Molly's room. He burst through the door and ran inside.

The toys waited in their places for the story to continue, but Andy was taking longer than usual. Woody looked towards the door, expecting to see Andy walk through with Bo but nothing. Then, yelling came from Molly's room.

"C'mon, Molly!" Andy pleaded. "I need her!"

"No!" Molly screamed back.

"Just for 5 minutes! I'll bring her right back!"

"No, I'm coloring!"

"You don't need her to color!"

"I'm coloring a picture of her! Stop!"

Sounds of grunting and screams of protest followed, causing the toys to look up from their places in concern. Then, the dreaded sound that would haunt them for years to come struck the air.

Crash!

Molly let out another scream which quickly melted into tears.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Andy said but her crying just grew louder. The toys heard mom quickly run up the stairs to investigate.

"What is going on in here I -oh no what did you two do?"

"It was Andy, mom! He was trying to take my lamp!"

"I was not! I just needed Bo Peep!"

"Andy, how many times have I told you this is not a toy!" Mrs. Davis said, entering the room. "Now look what happened; she's broken."

Woody's heart sunk. Broken? No, she couldn't be! Bo had to be fine. He needed to see, but the worst flooded his mind. What could he do?

"We can fix her, right?" said Andy sadly, truly sorry.

"I guess, but you can't handle her so roughly anymore or next time we won't be able to," said Mrs Davis. "Let me see if I can find my glue gun."

She turned to leave and Molly followed her. "Tell Andy he can't come into my room anymore!"

"It was an accident! You take my stuff all the time!"

"I do not! Your toys just always end up in my room! Mom, tell him-"

Once their voices had faded, Woody slid out of the jump rope and ran into Molly's bedroom. R.C. rushed over to him as he entered trying to explain what had happened but Woody ran past him, too panicked. He hopped onto the desk where her lamp usually sat, but only her sheep were there.  
"Where is she girls?" he asked breathlessly. They bahed sadly in response, gesturing to the bed and Woody leapt over. "Bo? Bo! Are you-?"

When he reached the top he found her sitting solemnly, her right arm laying in her lap. Her left arm hovered over where the break had happened, processing the reality of it. Her eyes were wide, still in shock. "Hey there sheriff," she managed to mutter, her tone still clinging to the fragments of its usual luster, though she didn't look up at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, rushing to her side

"Could be worse," she said with a dainty smile. "Nothing some hot glue won't fix. How are my sheep? They didn't fall did they? Did you see?"

"They're fine," he assured her, placing his hand on her cheek. "Gosh, when I heard that crash I thought…" he couldn't even finish the sentence, the notion was too painful.

"Awh, you're cute when you care,"

"So I've been told," he gave a small laugh.

"Sorry I couldn't rescue you," she placed her hand over his on her face. "Maybe next time."

"Oh, don't worry about me," he choked. "Worry about yourself."

"Hmm, but isn't that what I have you for?" Even in her current state she put him first. He didn't know how she could be so calm, but seeing her so mellow made him follow suit. She brought down his hand to her lap and ran her thumb over the back of his hand "You better get out of here before they get back," she said softly. "Don't wanna make Molly angrier at Andy."

"Okay," he said, not moving. He didn't want to leave her like this. He knew it didn't hurt, but how the experience not be traumatic? But she was far too strong to admit it. He continued to sit beside her in silence, not caring about being caught, only that she knew he was there for her. He remembered when he had lost his arm, but this was somehow totally different. He wasn't fragile the same way that Bo was.

Soon, her sheep began to bah warning them that Mom had found the glue gun and was heading up the stairs. He rose back up, placing a chaise kiss on the back of her hand before releasing it. He quickly leapt off the bed, his eyes not leaving her for a second, as she returned to the position she had been left in. "I'll come check on you later," he whispered before running out in the nick of time.

He watched from the doorway as Andy's mom picked her up to inspect the damage, both children at her side yelling and crying. Somehow, all the noise was drowned out as far as Woody was concerned. He watched as mom began to apply the glue and wished he was there beside her.

"Woody?" Rex asked softly from behind him as the rest of Andy's toys gathered in the doorway to see what was happening. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Woody didn't answer him, and instead kept his eyes on Bo. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer Rex, he truly did. He was just afraid of the answer


	2. The Last Days

After that, Bo Peep was no longer a part of playtime. Molly, afraid she would break even more, had mom remove her from the nightstand and onto a higher shelf. She continued to light the room, but it made getting down even harder. In addition, Molly started keeping her door closed, so Woody found himself seeing less and less of the Shepherdess. Andy adjusted just fine, knowing she really wasn't a toy and wasn't really his and found new scenarios for his playtime, but the room missed the special spark only she carried.

As much as Woody loved time with Andy, he was thrilled when mom said he couldn't bring any toys on their weekend camping trip to his grandparents. The family would be gone all weekend, which meant there'd be no rush getting Bo to back to Molly's room and he would have plenty of time with her.

As soon as the van left the driveway, he leapt into action. He didn't need to tell anyone where he was off to, it was all he had talked about all week.

"Hey Bo!" He exclaimed, creating a staircase with Molly's books to her. "They're gone! Oh boy, I've got a great weekend planned for us!" Suddenly he began coughing. When he finally stopped and saw her, he found why: she was covered in dust. Molly hadn't been using her. She had tried in vain to brush it off before he saw, but to her embarrassment the dust only spread,

"Oh Bo," he began, his smile vanishing.

"Hey there Sheriff," she said, her tone sweet and sad. "Go stretch your legs girls."

Her sheep hopped off the perch happily, their normal white coat now gray and dingy. Woody offered Bo his hand and helped her off her place, she was a little wobbly after not being able to move for awhile.

"Sorry I didn't have time to clean up," she joked, though her smile was duller than usual as she patted her skirt.

"Hey, no amount of dust could hide how beautiful you look," he smiled, guiding her down onto the floor. and changing the subject. "Awh, the fellas are so excited to see ya! And guess what mom rented and still has for another week? Oklahoma! Oh it's gonna be a blast!"

"Sounds wonderful," she said softly, locking elbows with him as they left Molly's room, her sheep skipping happily behind. She rested her head on his shoulder as he continued.

"Oh, and Andy's started that new math class and it's been giving him real trouble," Woody caught her up. "Did they change math? Because, I gotta tell ya, I looked at his papers and it looked like gibberish to me. They're using letters now I guess? In math? Poor Andy."

"Hmm," Boo sighed, not really listening but enjoying being close to her cowboy after so long. Days felt like years, but she hadn't seen him for weeks. It might as well have been a lifetime.

"Hey everyone Bo Peep is here!" exclaimed Rex excitingly when they entered the room. All the toys stopped what they were doing and rushed over to Bo Peep, bombarding her with greetings and questions.

"Bo! Did Molly ever sell enough cookies to beat the girl down the street?"

"How was the talent show?"

"Can you please tell Woody we should be allowed to watch TV if mom forgets to turn it off?"

"Okay, okay one at a time," she chuckled, stopping to embrace each toy she passed. "Hello there, oh I missed you too. How are you?"

"C'mon guys, you'll have plenty of time to pester her all weekend, but we've got plans," said Woody, trying to pull her away from the chaos.

"Aw, Woody, trying to keep me all for yourself?" teased Bo, pulling him to her side with her staff. She gently kissed his check, making his smile crooked and his eyes soft. "Why don't you run downstairs and get the movie ready? I wanna talk to Jessie real quick, see if she can watch my sheep."

"Okay," said Woody, utterly love struck as he walked backwards from her, keeping her in his sight as long as possible. He offered a gentle wave as he left the doorway and nearly fell on his face not watching where he was going.

Bo laughed and then made her way over to Jessie. Her sheep ran ahead excitedly to the cowgirl, jumping up to greet her.

"You know you don't need to ask me to watch yer sheep Bo, I love these critters," said Jessie happily, bending down to brush the dust off the porcelain animal as she followed Bo over to Andy's desk.

"I know, thank you," said Bo, leaning on her staff, glad her girls were having fun. "I just wanted to talk to you, catch up, see how you're doing."

"I'm doing great!" Jessie exclaimed, hopping up. "Bullseye and I are having the best time here."

"I'm so glad," Bo smiled gently, but her eyes betrayed her.

"Somethin' wrong?"

"Nothing, really," Bo tried. What she wanted to ask was no easy or fun thing, but it needed to be done. "I was wondering if I could ask you about… Emily?"

"Emily…"

"If that's okay," Bo said quickly. "I don't want to pry, if it's too hard I don't-."

"It's fine," Jessie said, cutting her off. "What did you wanna know?"

"When she was growing up, did you ever suspect… I mean, before she…"

"I knew," Jessie said. "I didn't want to admit it, but I guess I did know. She had friends to talk to, she didn't need me as much. Then one day…" her voiced trailed off and her breathing got heavier

"Jessie, I'm sorry if-."

"No, it's okay, really," she insisted, steadying herself and offering her friend a small smile. "I used to think... it was my fault. That I wasn't enough. But being here makes me realize that I did my job. I was there when she needed me, I helped her when no one else could. I'm part of the most special memories of her life. And I miss her, sometimes. Less lately. But I wouldn't trade those days for anything. But, I've also got a lot of special days ahead of me too, ya know?"

"She was lucky to have you," said Bo, touching her shoulder. "And so is Andy."

"Thanks Bo," sighed Jessie, noticing she looked worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," said Bo after a moment, though uncertain.

"You don't think Molly…?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Bo, scared to finish Jessie's sentence. "There's just been some talk of... redecorating."

Jessie brought her hands to her mouth, knowing the change those words had meant for her. "Does Woody know?"

"No," said Bo flatly. "But it's just talk right now. No point in getting him worked up, right?"

"Right," said Jessie softly, the words hitting her. Bo was so calm about all this, she couldn't imagine handling this with such grace. It was talk, yes. Mom talked about redecorating all the time. But, a toy could never be too safe.

"Just promise me you won't say anything?" said Bo, her former demeanor slowly returning. "Especially to Woody? Now I love him, but he can be so dramatic."

Jessie laughed and made an X over her chest in response. "Promise," said Jessie, serious. "But, just know you don't have to go through this alone. When I was with Emily, I was her only toy; I didn't have anyone like you, or Woody… or Buzz." Bo's smiled returned in full when she noticed how soft Jessie's voice got when she said Buzz's name.

"Hmm, I bet. So how is Buzz?" asked Bo, switching to focus to happier things.

"Fine, I guess," said Jessie, looking over to where the space toy was across the room. Rex was talking to him about something but Buzz didn't seem to be listening. He was looking over to where she and Bo were talking, but the awestruck look on his face suggested he was watching a sunset. Jessie waved at him, but when he saw that she had saw him, he quickly looked to the ground. "Does he always act so…" she struggled to find the word.

"Smitten?"

Jessie snorted in spite of herself. "What? That's a hoot." She swayed back on forth on the heels of her boots and twirled her braid as her eyes darted back to check if he was still looking, a smile fighting its way through her coy expression.

"Mhm hm," Bo smiled knowingly, she had missed watching this blossoming courtship while being held up in Molly's room. She made a mental note to press Woody about not helping Buzz work up the nerve to talk to Jessie more. "Well, I shouldn't keep Woody waiting. Thanks again, Jessie." She reached down and gently squeezed her hand. "For everything."

"Course, Bo," she replied with a gentle nod.

Bo sauntered away and looked back at Jessie enthusiastically talking with the sheep. Then she looked further back and saw Buzz also watching the cowgirl, his smile was crooked and familiar. The same goofy grin she loved making Woody wear.

"Poor boy's got it bad," she whispered to herself, walking over to him. He didn't even notice she was there until she spoke. "Ya know, I bet Jessie could use some help watching the sheep tonight. If you don't mind."

"Huh?" He said, his trance broken. He saw the knowing look on Bo's face and felt his own grow hot with embarrassment. "Oh! Yes! No, I wouldn't mind, why would I mind? But, I think she's got it handled. She's very good with animals. She's kind and engaging and funny and well, uh you've trusted a fine young woman to look after your flock."

"You should tell her that."

"Who? Me?" Buzz asked, as though the very idea of coherently communicating with Jessie was impossible. "No, I don't know if I could. I mean, she's so busy right now I'd hate to interrupt and…"

While Buzz tried to get out of the hole he dug for himself, Bo gave a faint whistle. She sheep looked over to her and she delicately brushed the rim of her hat and then pointed at Jessie. They nodded, having understood her message and followed orders. When Jessie was turned around, the trio jumped up and grabbed her hat from her head. She spun around, laughing at the game and chased them. They ran in circles around her, and she took joy in diving and running after them. They ran over to Buzz and dropped the hat in his hands. He looked down confused, but quickly tensed up realizing Jessie was running over to retrieve the hat he held.

"Looks like this is your chance," whispered Bo happily as she made her way out of the room. Before closing the door, she watched as Jessie ran up to Buzz who nearly dropped the hat when she stood before him. He struggled at first, but soon he said something that made Jessie laugh and felt bold enough to keep talking after she returned the hat to her head. She gave her sheep a quick thumbs up before closing the door, hoping her push would move things along.

—-

When Bo made her way down to the living room, Woody could hardly contain himself. He rushed over before she could step all the way in and covered her eyes.

"Woody, what's all this about?" She laughed.

"Well I wanted to make it special," he said. "Keep your eyes closed."

He removed his hands from her eyes and locked arms with her to lead her into the room.

"Oh, you didn't need to go to so much trouble," she lied, enjoying every second of this.

"It's no trouble, no trouble at all," he said, gazing at her eager expression. She knew he was wearing her favorite sappy grin and it made her own smile wider. She would've been content just walking around the room like this all night so long as it was just the two of them. "Okay," he said at last. "Open your eyes."

Her bright blue eyes fluttered open and were astonished at the sight they beheld. "Oh Woody!" She gasped. "It's lovely!"

Woody had truly outdone himself. He had borrowed Barbie's corvette for the night and had placed it on the coffee table in front of the TV, making their own personal drive-in. The room lights had been turned off and around the table he had strung some old Christmas lights, encasing the room in a soft, warm glow. He had also dug out some of mom's scented candles so the air was tinted with the scent of Bo's favorite flowers.

"Oh, it's nothing," he shrugged, delighted.

"It's perfect," she looked up at him, the lights reflecting in her eyes making them seem even bigger. Woody could've stayed there staring all night, but he snapped out of it to continue the plan.

"Well then, let's begin, shall we?" He said, hopping over to the car. "Allow me to get the door for you miss?" He went around to open the passenger's side door.

"Oh, that's awfully sweet, but I can open my own door dear," she teased, opening the driver's side and sitting down. "But you can close it for me." Woody chuckled and obliged, and then ran over to start the movie. Bo smoothed her dress as Woody returned to the car and sat beside her. The movie began to play and Woody scooted himself a little closer to the shepherdess. Bo true to hide her smile, knowing exactly what he was up to. Woody gave a long and exaggerated fake yawn, stretching his arms out wide. As he went to set them down, he tried to position his left one behind Bo, but somehow miscalculated and ended up hitting her staff, knocking it forward.

"Oh, shoot I'm so sorry," he muttered, reaching down to pick it up but in that process his hat ended up hitting her in the face. "Oh, sorry Bo! I uh, let me just move that." In his flustered state, he impulsively three both his hat and her staff outside of the car. He sat back, unable to explain what he has just done. "Sorry," He said again, Bo responded by just tilting her head and raising her eyebrows knowingly. She returned her gaze to the film as though nothing had happened.

A few minutes passed and Woody felt confident enough to try again, having learned from his blunder. He let out another yawn, more carefully positioning his arms this time, and went to place his arm around Bo. She glanced at him and spoke before he could complete his mission.

"You feeling tired Sheriff?" She asked mischievously. "Want to call it an early night?"

"Huh? Oh, no I uh-." He sputtered, embarrassed, recoiling his arms inwards back to his sides. He cleared his throat and cursed himself, trying but failing to focus on the movie. He wasn't aware that Bo was doing the same thing, but because she enjoyed watching him so much more.

"Hey Woody," she whispered, as though there were others in the theater with them she was trying not to disturb. "Could you hold something for me?"

Before Woody had a chance to respond, Bo took his hand, pulled him closer and then carefully draped his arms around her shoulders. She nuzzled her head into the nape of his neck and gave a gentle sigh of content. He rested his head on top of hers and the pair sat in comfortable silence as the movie played on.

In the back of Bo's mind rung her conversation with Jessie. She knew she had to tell Woody, she knew he'd want to know if something was causing her anxiety. But she felt so comfortable and safe here that she was half convinced if they just didn't move they could live in this moment forever. But she was not the perfect hopeless romantic, and knew this warmth was temporary. She didn't want to ruin this memory .She would find the right time to tell him. Maybe, just maybe, there'd be nothing to tell.

But the crack that graced her arm just below were Woody's hand fell told her that was unlikely.

—-

As nice as the weekend was, it went by far too quickly. Soon Bo had to return to her shelf. Woody tried to prolong the inevitable as long as possible, but the moment weighed too heavily on Bo to be omitted. So when they knew they needed to head back to Molly's room, they had never walked slower.

Before he left her, he made sure as much dust had been removed as possible. He angled Molly's curtains and shades so that when the sun shone through the light would hit Bo. He hoped the sunlight would remind Molly she was there in case she had forgotten and that it would make Bo feel less alone. As he lingered, saying goodbye for the 12th time, Bo's sheep finally took it upon themselves to push him out.

"Okay, okay I can take a hint," he laughed as they nearly pushed him off the shelf. "I'm going, I'm going."

"Don't be a stranger," said Bo, leaning against her staff watching him in amusement.

"Never," said Woody, tipping his hat to her before finally leaving. He heard the family come in the door downstairs and ran for Andy's room. He took his place on the bed where Andy had left them, and felt weight return to his heart. Every part of him wanted to rush back over there and sit on the shelf with her tonight but the sound of Andy's voice paralyzed him.

Andy opened the bedroom door and ran for the closet once he turned the light on. He rummaged around for a second before he found what he was looking for. "What about this one, mom?"

His mother came up the stairs and looked at what her son held. "That should work, she should fit fine in there. Go get her ready, carefully though."

Andy went ahead and went into Molly's room. Woody looked up from the bed, concern and worry flying around his mind. He assumed the worst but maybe he was wrong. He had to be wrong. He had never wished to be wrong before but if he could be wrong about this, he'd happily be wrong the rest of his days.

But he was right.

When walked out, he carried a box in his hands and Woody could see the top of Bo's sticking out. Woody barely waited for the coast to be clear before he ran after them down the stairs. He didn't have a plan or time to explain to the other toys, but that didn't matter. He watched carefully as. Andy set the box by the door and shut the folds. He examined the box and then looked around.

"Do we have anymore newspaper to wrap her in?" Andy called up to his mother.

"Uh yeah look in the kitchen."

Once Andy left, Woody ran over to the box and quickly pulled back the folds. When he opened it, he found Bo in her signature pose covered in newspaper. When she saw it was him, she stood up uncovered her sheep.

"It's okay girls," she whispered, patting their back.

"Yeah, were gonna get you outta here," said Wody. "Here Bo, hand then to me I'll hide them behind the plant."

"Hide? Woody, oh no," said Bo Peep, standing up. "We can't hide."

"Then we'll put the lamp back and plug it in, maybe Molly will see it and-."

"Molly doesn't need me," Bo stopped him. "She's not afraid of the dark anymore."

"Well then Andy will-."

"I'm not Andy's toy," she said sadly. This was not news but the fact still hit Woody like a ton of bricks.

"But I-." He started but trailed off. What could he say? Of course he wanted her to stay but could he really ask her to spend the rest of her life on a shelf for him? She was far too bright to settle for such a dull fate. That was no life but he couldn't give up so easily.

She heard the words he couldn't manage to say and placed her hand beneath his chin to bring his eyes to hers. "It's time for the next kid," she said quietly. "Mrs. Foster down the street just had a baby girl. And I can do for her everything I did for Molly."

"But I…" He simply didn't have the words, everything that came to mind was pointless or selfish and he knew the look in eyes meant her mind was made up.

"When she has a nightmare I can be there to remind her someone is looking out for her," she went on. "When it's storming outside, I can make the shadows go away. When she come home after a long day, I'll be the first thing she sees when she walks in her room and the last thing she sees before falling asleep. I've got a lot of happy days ahead of me, I'll be fine. I know what I have to do." She hooked her crook around his neck and brought him closer. "And I think you know what you have to do."

His eyes darted into the box at the empty space beside her, her sheep jumped excitedly at his stare but Bo quickly silenced them. She heard footsteps approach them. "Thanks for everything, Sheriff," she said, her voice breaking. "Take care of them." She turned away and took her place back in the box, her sheep snuggling up to her. Before he could think of anything to say, Andy turned the corner and he flopped onto the floor, his hand still clinging to the box.

Andy didn't notice Woody and opened the box to wrap Bo in some more newspaper and when she was secure to his satisfaction, he placed her back in the box. He taped the box shut with bright read tape that read: Fragile. Woody watched helplessly as Andy and mom brought the box out to the car and drove away with her as though it was nothing at all.


	3. Getting There

Bonnie had been asleep for a few hours when Buzz quietly removed himself from the line of toys. He made sure everyone was undisturbed and under the covers before he jumped down to the floor and made his way to the computer. He opened the internet and found a hidden saved tab he knew Woody had made. He had made it at Andy's, and had made it here without telling anyone. Buzz could tell it had been opened and added to recently and gave his sleeping friend a sad smile. In the carefully hidden folder was everything he knew about Bo.

Alerts, pictures, ads; everything was compiled in one safe place so Woody knew she was okay. When the Fosters had taken her, he scoured their social media for any photo she might be in the background of, any life event she could have witnessed, any sign that was loved and looked after. But the older Andy got, the more he needed his computer and Woody was able to update the folder less and less until one day he could no longer find any trace of Bo and had to assume they had given her away. He had to assume this and not the worst option.

Then he has searched local rummage sales, flea markets, garage sales, anything; any place she could be, it was in the folder. But truthfully, it was 10 years worth of hope and dead ends. But Buzz often caught his friend sneaking away to check if there was something new, and said nothing. He knew it wouldn't matter if he did.

Buzz opened the folder and examined the latest addition; a Craigslist ad looking for Bo's exact description. No doubt Woody had placed it and continued to repost until he received a response, but so far he was unsuccessful.

"Buzz! What cha doin'?" came a quiet voice behind him, startling him for a moment and he flailed to cover the screen. He cautiously turned around and found Jessie had leapt onto the desk to join him.

"Oh, it's you," he whispered, relieved. "It's uh, nothing just the uh-."

"Woody's Bo folder?" Jessie finished knowingly at the room's worst kept secret. "Anything new?"

"Not for awhile," he replied sadly. "I just… seeing Barbie and Ken today... well it couldn't have been easy for Woody. And it's almost that time of year…"

"Yeah, ya don't forget that sort of thing," Jessie offered, sadness stinging her words.

Buzz gently squeezed her hand and she smiled at him to continue. "But it just seems as though we're missing something," Buzz went on. "She's got to be out there somewhere, but we keep hitting a dead end. Every other toy that ended up being sold or donated we've been able to find their new homes…"

"But not Bo…" finished Jessie with a sigh. "If only there was- fox in the hen house! That's it!"

Without any explanation, she jumped down from the desk leaving Buzz utterly confused. He heard her feet quietly and quickly patter on the floor as she rushed to complete whatever task had popped into her mind. In practically no time at all, she hopped back beside Buzz with Trixie right behind her.

"All right, what seems to be the issue here?" The dinosaur said with authority. "Troubleshooting? Firewalls? Virus? If a Nigerian Prince is emailing you-."

"No, no nothing like that," Jessie interrupted. "We need your help finding something online."

"Oh! A little detective work, eh?" She laughed, jumping over to the keyboard. "Say no more! Advanced searches are my specialty. Now, what can I do ya for?"

"It's a lamp," began Buzz. "With a porcelain shepherdess and sheep. Now, it may be hard to find this specific one-."

"Done!" Said Trixie happily, standing back so the pair could see the screen.

"How did you do that so fast?" Asked Jessie, amazed.

"I just used a faster search engine, adjusted the search's miles radius and filtered the years the lamp could be in circulation," explained Trixie. "I mean, c'mon, it's not rocket science!"

"Fascinating," Buzz whispered and he and Jessie scanned the screen. Trixie has found an auction cite and sure enough there was Bo in her lamp, standing in her signature pose. "This is perfect! But, how do we know that's our Bo and not another lamp?"

Jessie gasped and pointed to the picture. "Buzz, look!" She pushed him closer to the computer, his face practically squished. "Her arm!" Sure enough there on her right arm was a familiar crack. Small but present in the exact spot Bo's had been fractured years ago. "That's gotta be her!"

"Amazing!" exclaimed Buzz, almost too loudly.

"So are you gonna place a bid?" Trixie asked.

"A what?"

"A bid," she said again. "It says she for sale at some place called "Lucky Star's Antiques" But it looks like she's been on sale for a while. No takers."

"What should we do Buzz?" asked Jessie. "We can't buy her!"

"Maybe not," admitted Buzz, a plan forming in his mind. He quickly grabbed a pen and paper from beside the computer. "But now we know where to find her."

He scribbled down the address and just as he finished he heard Bonnie begin to stir. Trixie quickly closed to the tab as the three returned to their places.

The next few days, Buzz and Jessie spent all their free time formulating a plan. They carefully spread word to the other toys in Bonnie's room and soon were ready to put it into action. Bonnie had a long weekend coming up, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. That Friday as soon as Bonnie left for preschool, Buzz and Jessie out their plan into action. They needed to make sure Woody wouldn't suspect they were up to anything so the Potatoheads had him babysitting all morning, then he had Pricklepants workshop his new one man play for him, and then if that ended shortly, Hamm and Buttercup promised to fake an argument only Woody could solve.

In the meantime, Buzz managed to locate a perfect sized box and packing supplies, gathering what he had found at the front door. He stood above the box on the end table, making sure the box was ready for pickup. He had cross referenced the family's schedule to come up with his timeline and was checking the postage before beginning the final step of the plan.

"How's everything going?" sang Jessie as she raced Bullseye down the stairs. She looked around excitedly, knowing Woody had no idea what was happening.

"Perfect!" he spun around to greet her with a smile. "If everything goes according to plan I'll be out and back within three days, just in time for Bonnie's birthday!"

"You mean 'we'll' be back, right?" asked Jessie with a raise of her eyebrow.

Buzz failed to hide his confusion. "Um… it's just that I thought… I mean, I'd be going there in a box…"

"I know how the mail works, Buzz," she teased.

"Heh," he chuckled nervously, not sure how to explain what he meant. "It's uh, just if we both go don't you think Woody will be suspicious?"

"I think it'll be more suspicious if he sees me without you," she countered, a point that made him smile but made his argument weaker. "Plus, Bullseye will cover for us, won't ya boy?"

Upon hearing his name, the loyal steed burst forth between the two and ran a circle around Jessie with excitement. She laughed and stroked his mane as he stomped his hooves happily. Buzz could hardly argue with her logic, but as brave as he knew Jessie was he knew the effect darkness and enclosed spaces had on her. As much as he'd love to do this with her, he couldn't ask her to put herself though that for a mission that might not even work.

"It's just… it'll be dark," he said simply.

Her face softened at his concern. "Not if I'm with you," she said. She saw the distress did not leave his face so in response she ran over to the box he had prepared and jumped in, packing peanuts flying to the sides as she did

"Jessie? Are you okay?" he said running over, but unable to see her under the sea of fluffy white.

"Yeah, they're pretty comfy," came her muffled voice from deep below.

"Oh, maybe this was a bad idea," he murmured, scenarios running through his head. "Want me to help you up?"

In place of a response, Jessie reached out her hand as the rest of her remained submerged. Buzz sighed in relief as he bent down to take her hand but before he could pull her up, she instead pulled him down into the box beside her. "Now Bullseye!" she exclaimed, and the horse sprang into action, taking thee packing tape in his mouth and sealing the box. As Buzz looked around, confused he felt the box move as Bullseye pushed it with his head out the door.

"Jessie, are you sure about this?" he asked, swimming closer to her through the sea of foam. The glow of his suit the only thing guiding his way in the otherwise pitch black space.

"Of course, Buzz," she said, her face suddenly beside his. Seeing the certainty on her face put him slightly at ease. Suddenly, the box began to move more rapidly, becoming shaky as the packing peanuts shifted around them. The pair found it hard to keep their balance. For a moment, Jessie felt the walls were closing in on her, but seeing Buzz beside her and the glow that surrounded him, calmed her. "But if you're feeling a little uneasy and want to hold my hand, I won't stop you." she added quickly, steadying herself against the wall.

He smiled and took her hand in his and the two sat down as the box made its way onto the mail truck. Jessie took deep breaths as her nerves returned to normal and the excitement of what they were doing took over once again.

"Oh, I can't wait to see the look on Bo's face when we show up," she said happily, practically bouncing.

"Oh, Woody is gonna freak out," said Buzz with similar gusto, but as he said it, his eyes got wider and his tone became more serious. "Oh, Woody is gonna freak out."

"Are we doing the right thing?" Jessie asked. "I mean, not telling him and all?"

"Absolutely," said Buzz with authority. "I mean, he'd go if he could."

"Yeah," agreed Jessie. "And it might not work…"

"But we have to try," he continued, determination in his voice. "He hasn't been the same since she left."

"And Bo must be just as heartbroken…"

"I mean, if it were you, I don't know what I'd do," he went on, thinking aloud. "I'd be worried every day. Well, I'd-." he stopped when he realized he was rambling,and maybe saying some things his heart submitted before his brain could proofread.

But Jessie thought it was incredibly sweet. She scooted closer to the space toy. "Yeah? What else?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder. The box no longer felt shaky and small, but rather cozy.

As he looked as Jessie resting peacefully on his shoulder, the green light illuminating her like a halo, he thought about how without Bo's constant encouragement he might've miss out on this. He knew he needed to thank her. As the thoughts and memories raced through his mind, he didn't realize he was staring.

"What?" asked Jessie, giving Buzz a sly smile placing her chin on his shoulder.

"Nothing, uh," he laughed, somehow still getting embarrassed. "Just thinking about something Woody said once."

"'Don't try and make a water slide out of the rain gutters?'"

"No," he sighed, her eyes on him making him feel flushed. He tried his best not to stutter as the words found their way out. "He, uh, once told me that every time he saw Bo it was like he was seeing her for the first time all over again," Buzz said, recalling the moment fondly. "And I never really understood what he meant... until I met you."

"Really?" laughed Jessie, in her mind the first time Buzz had seen her, she had been dangling from an airplane and screaming.

"Well yes," he said, suddenly shy. He often rehearsed things he wanted to tell her, as old habits proved they died hard, but the sentiment of their mission was bringing out a more accidentally honest side of him somehow. "The first time I saw you, I was speechless. And every time I see you now I feel the same way."

"Every time?" she asked in slight disbelief.

The words poured out easier and easier, much to both his and Jessie's surprise, but the cowgirl thoroughly enjoyed it. "I mean, I know I said I feel speechless but sometimes I can't stop talking," he continued, almost embarrassed. "You'd uh, think by now I'd be a little more articulate.

"Every time? Even... now?"

As she said that, she warped her face into a silly expression, sucking in her cheeks so her lips resembled a fish and crossing her eyes.

Buzz laughed. "Yes," he said.

"Okay, what about now?" she asked, hiding her face for a moment and then turning to him with another ridiculous look, this time with her eyebrows furrowed and he lips pursed so she resembled an angry gorilla. Buzz simply nodded.

"Wow, guess I really must be a 'temptress' huh?," Jessie, half joking half genuinely touched as she returned her head to his shoulder.

Buzz imagined this warm and flighty feeling was how Woody and Bo felt about each other, and he knew he'd chase this feeling to the ends of the earth.

"Wait, who called you a temptress?

**-Ten Years Earlier-**

Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and Bullseye ran quickly from the runway,careful to not be seen and to not be swept up by the air coming off any outgoing flights. The turbulence was so loud, the group could hardly hear Woody shout directions. Finally, they managed to duck out and meet up with the rest of Andy's toys. Woody got a head count, making sure everyone was accounted for, as Buzz stood beside him trying to get his attention.

"Psst, Woody," he whispered, as Woody tried to see how far Slinky had stretched himself.

"Not now, Buzz," Woody said, trying to focus. "The aliens are coming too? Okay, let me start the count over."

"Woody," Buzz whispered again, nudging him with his elbow.

"Oh, what is it Buzz, can't you see I'm busy?" asked Woody, exasperated.

"Introduce me," said Buzz, nodding his head to the left.

"What?" Woody looked to his friend and then followed the direction of his nod and saw he was referring to Jessie who was happily talking about something with Rex and Slinky. "There will be plenty of time for that when we get home. How about you find us a way back while I get everyone ready?"

Buzz nodded. "Right," his eyes lingered on the cowgirl for a moment before he turned his attention to his surroundings. He ventured around the corner and within moments, the luggage transport caught his eye; it was close, it was transportation, and most importantly it was unattended. It was perfect. He turned back around and signaled to Woody that he had found something. The toys lined up behind Woody, waiting for the coast to be clear. Then they all ran to the cart single file. Woody jumped into the driver's seat first and luckily the keys were left in the ignition. He helped the toys quickly into the vehicle as Buzz kept watch from the from. Finally, everyone had been loaded into the front seat and the toys could leave.

"Okay, looks like we're all here," said Woody, "Jessie, can you go get Buzz and tell him we're ready?"

"On it!"

She promptly jumped down and ran to the front of the car. "Buzz!" she whispered sharply, not seeing him at first. "Buzz!" she called again.

The space ranger heard his name called, and came around from the font to respond. Before he could, Jessie called his name again and turned around to face him. As she did, it seemed as though everything was in slow motion. Her braid swung around dramatically and hearing her say his name drowned out the roaring of the airplanes somehow. He suddenly felt tense and breathless, he knees shook beneath him and the air felt hot.

"Buzz?" she said again, starting to feel confused. He just stood there, motionless. She looked behind her to see if there was something there distracting him, but didn't find anything. "That is your name isn't it? Buzz?"

"Buzz..." he repeated, dreamily. "I mean, yes! I, Buzz… yes!" He shook his head, shaking himself out of his daze, not sure what had come over him.

"Okay great let's go!" said Jessie happily, taking his hand and pulling him to the door.

"Took you long enough," Woody commented when they finally joined the rest of them in the front of the car. "We need to figure out how to move this thing."

"Oh, we'll just drive back the same way we drove here," said Buzz, as though it was that easy,

"You drove here?" asked Jessie, intrigued and impressed.

"Oh yeah, well I- I mean, we, well…"

The rest of the toys exchanged knowing looks as Buzz continued to struggle to say what he was trying to say to the cowgirl. The toys took their former positions as he stuttered. The, before Buzz could begin to explain the history of the automobile, Slinky slammed on the gas and Woody put the car into drive, launching the car forwards but it set Buzz and Jessie flying backwards.

"Hey cassanova, why don't you show Lucille Ball of the west how to steer before we crash?"called Potatohead.

"Right!" exclaimed Buzz, determination putting his nerves on hold. He grabbed the wheel and turned out of the airport. Once they made their way onto the road, Slinky and Woody navigated best they could until the surroundings looked more familiar and they knew they were close to Andy's house.

"We have to merge, merge!" yelled Woody.

"What does that mean?" yelled Hamm back.

"We're gonna miss the exit," Woody yelled back. "If we don't get in the far lane we're gonna end up downtown way past Andy's house!"

"On it!" said Buzz, preparing to turn the wheel to enter the lane. But the cars beside them did not waver and allow them to enter. "Blast! How are we going to get over there?"

Then, acting fast, Jessie grabbed onto the steering wheel beside him and kicked a lever with her foot to turn on the turn signal. When she did, the car beside them created a small space and she quickly yanked the wheel and took them across three lanes of traffic and they got on the exit just in time. The toys cheered as Hamm pumped on the gas as they flew down the highway.

They arrived at the Davis house with plenty of time to spare. They left the luggage trolley sprawled in front of the house as they quickly entered through the doggy door on the side. They climbed the stairs and opened the door to Andy's room.

"Okay everyone, looks like mom is still picking Andy up from cowboy camp so we have some time, but let's make sure we get Jessie and Bullseye in an upfront position so Andy will see them," said Woody as he opened the door. "And let's make sure- Bo!"

Before Woody could finish, he ran towards Molly's room and embraced the shepherdess who had come out when she heard his voice. He swooped her up and spun her around with his not torn arm.

"I knew they'd find you!" she exclaimed happily. "Did Buzz give you my message?"

"Message?" Woody asked, confused.

"Well, I'm happy to deliver it in person," she said, reaching up to give the cowboy a long, loud kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, that must be Bo Peep," Jessie whispered to Buzz.

"H-how'd you know?" he replied, still flustered by her presence.

"Oh he told me about everyone in Andy's room," she said. "It was all he talked about, really."

"Everyone?" repeated, clearing his throat. "E-even, even me?"

Before she could answer him, Woody ushered the group into Andy's room. He lead Bo forward, arm in arm as he began telling her everything.

"-turns out, I'm a collectible," he was saying.

"I always knew you were one of kind," Bo chuckled.

"And part of a set," he went on, waving Jessie and Bullseye over. "This is Jessie and Bullseye, my roundup gang."

"The more the merrier," said Bo. "Pleased to meet you both. Good to have another girl in this boy's club."

"Oh, I like her," said Jessie to Woody, and Bo laughed. Bullseye jumped excitedly, and began chasing Bo's sheep around in a circle as the two girls laughed. The sheep darted off into the hallway and Bullseye followed. They pranced around the room, but Bullseye was less familiar with the room's layout and ended up tripping on the carpet and became tangled in Slinky' coils. Woody laughed as he and Jessie ran over to help him.

"Oh, Andy is just going to love her," Bo commented to Buzz as they watched Woody and Jessie untangle the horse.

"Yeah," he replied breathlessly, tilting his head. "She's certainly a bright young woman."

Bo saw his fixated expression and instantly knew what was going on on his mind. "Hm, she's very pretty too," she tried.

"Oh yes, her hair is..." began Buzz without really thinking. Then from the corner of his eye he saw the smirk Bo was giving him and tried looking elsewhere but his eyes kept getting drawn forward to where the cowgirl stood.

"You should tell her that," said Bo.

"Oh, well I uh... I think Rex is calling me," Buzz lied. "I'll be over there, seeing what that is."

Bo shook her head and walked over to Woody who had just finished freeing Bullseye and Jessie was telling him to be more careful.

"I think Buzz is sweet on our new friend," whispered Bo with a smile.

"Is that so?" asked Woody, intrigued but not surprised

"Mhm hm," said Bo, then turned to the cowgirl. "Jessie! Why don't you ask Buzz to give you a tour before Andy gets home?"

"Sounds good!" she said as she ran away to find him.

"Awh, I think it's sweet," she said, leaning on the cowboy."He reminds me of a certain cowboy I met a year ago."

"Oh, c'mon," laughed Woody. "I wasn't as goofy as Buzz."

"You're right, she said softly. "You were worse."

**Present Day**

The toys were gathered by the window, laughing at something outside.

"Hey what's all the fuss about?" asked Woody, climbing up onto the ledge.

"It's Bandit and Digger!" exclaimed Trixie as though that was enough explanation.

"They're the dogs next door," Buttercup explained.

"And cutest things I've ever seen!" cooed Mrs, Potatohead. "After my babies."

"Awh look! They're running through the sprinkler!" shouted Rex. The toys let out a collective 'awh' as they watched the two small pups took turns jumping through the water, barking happily.

"Oh, this is adorable," marveled Woody. "Oh Jessie would love this. Where is Jessie?"

The toys looked at each other nervously. Buzz and Jessie had given them a list of things they could say if Woody asked where they had gone. But they hadn't agreed on which one to use, so they all spoke at once.

"She's looking for her hat downstairs!"

"She's untangling that knot in Bonnie's shoelaces!"

"She's taking a personal day!"  
Woody looked at the cluster of flustered toys, utterly confused. "Uh…" said Woody  
"She's uh taking Bullseye for a walk," said Slinky.

"But, Bullseye is right here," said Woody, pointing to his right where the horse stood.

"What he meant to say is Jessie is… hiding!" said Dolly

"Hiding?" asked Woody

"Yes, hiding," she continued. "We're playing hide and seek! And she's winning!"

"So she's hiding and all of you are looking for her?" said Woody, not really buying it. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"No this is how the french do it!" volunteered Pricklepants.

"Yes," sighed Dolly, seeing the lie fall apart. "We are playing french hide and seek."

"We've been playing for days!" chimed in Rex, nervously. "She's really good!"

"Yeah okay," said Woody, fully aware something was up. "Buzz, what's really going on?" when he didn't receive a reply, he looked around the group and found the space toy was also missing from the group. He crossed his arms and his tone became more serious "Okay then; where's Buzz?"

Having used up all their pre-given excuses, the group spat out the first thing that came to their minds.

"Who's Buzz?"

"Dead."

"They eloped!"

"Right," sighed Woody,pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Okay guys, where are they really? If they're up to something that could be dangerous, I need to know. What if they get hurt?"

"It's a surprise!" exclaimed Rex, to which he received a glare from the other toys. "Ah! I'm sorry! I can't let secrets tear us apart!"

"A surprise?" asked Woody, no less confused.

"For Bonnie's birthday," answered Dolly, trying to give as few details as possible. "They found something online and went to get it. They'll be back in few days, no big deal."

"And why did they tell everyone but me?"

"You were... busy?" tried Slinky.

"This is ridiculous," said Woody simply, headed to the computer to find the address

"Woody, don't take it so personal," said Dolly chasing after him. "Look, when Buzz and Jessie told me their idea, I gave them my full support. I'm not worried and you shouldn't be either."

"Dolly, that's real nice and all," he said pulling up recent searches. "But I've known these guys a long time and when we were with Andy-."

"Well, no offense, but you're not," stated Dolly. "This is Bonnie's room and I've been here since Bonnie was born and I truthfully don't appreciate you undermining my authority."

He looked at the doll, taken back. The familiarity of her words and tone stung him, because they had once been his. It was true, Dolly was Bonnie's oldest toy and as much as he liked being in charge, he knew he was overstepping his bounds.

"I-I'm sorry," he said slowly. "Really, I am. I just... want to make sure they're safe."

Dolly sighed, having learned by now the cowboy was nothing if not relentless. "The address is on that notepad by the computer."


	4. Two Missions

Woody darted up the desk and grabbed the notepad but when he went to type in the address, he found himself locked out.

"What the-?"

"I'm sorry! They made us change the password!" cried Rex.

"Oh for crying out-!" instead of arguing further, Woody leapt into the drawer of the desk and began to rummage through it.

"I'm sure they're perfectly fine," said Dolly as the cowboy threw out various papers and pens. "They'll only be gone a few days, we can even track their package."

Woody gave no indication that he was listening but continued digging.

"Woody listen I really think you're overreacting," tried Dolly

"Oh, I'm overreacting?" he muttered dramatically. "Me? Right, right, okay."

"You're only proving my point here, potsie," sighed Dolly.

Woody took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm sorry Dolly, I should explain..."

"Yeah, try and make it a habit maybe," she said.

"You see, I thought- ah ha!" before he could finish his sentence, what he had been looking for caught his eye. High in the air he displayed two brand new batteries. "See?!"

"Yeah, what I am looking at here chief?"

"Batteries!" exclaimed Woody loudly as though it wasn't obvious. He saw Dolly still didn't understand. "We had to take them from the new remote since Bonnie doesn't have any other toys that need batteries mom hasn't bought any."

"Well, luckily the drug store is down the street," said Dolly with forced laughter. "Is that why you're freaking out? They didn't go to get batteries."

"No, but they are getting low," said Woody becoming annoyed. "And when Buzz's batteries get low, he starts acting… well."

"More deranged than usual," called Hamm from the window.

"Yes thank you," said Woody.

"Okay, so what? Buzz will act a little goofy? Tired? We can get him the new ones when he gets back," shrugged Dolly,

"No Dolly, I don't think you understand," said Woody. "If Buzz didn't change his battery before he left, it might be too late. Without a new battery, they might not return home."

"Ah yes, how dramatic," mused Pricklepants to the other toys who had now directed their attention to Woody. "The plot thickens, an additional mission. What a twist!"

"You guys remember the last time his battery got low," pleaded Woody to Andy's former toys. They looked at each other in concern, remembering the one and only time they had allowed Buzz's battery to run low. Woody was now frantically running around the room, jumping into the closet to search for a box.

"If it's so important why didn't Jessie remind him to take them?" asked Buttercup.

"Jessie's never seen him with his battery low," said Mr. Potatohead.

"He made us swore not to tell her what happens," added Slinky.

"The old space case had enough trouble around not babbling, it'd be like adding insult to injury," said Hamm.

"I think it's sweet they still have things to learn about each other," mused Mrs. Potatohead. "Who knows? Maybe he'll be fine. What harm could a few days do?"

The box arrived at the back door, just after the store had closed. Buzz had planned the overnight shipping perfectly so they could sneak into the store without anyone putting them on display or trying to sell them. When they were certain the coast was clear, Jessie cut open the tape with a paperclip she had packed and they hid the box in the alley for safekeeping when it was time to leave.

As Buzz turned around from hiding the box, the world around him suddenly transformed The faint lights from surrounding windows and street lamps began to swirl until they joined the stars, forming galaxies. comets, and constellations. The cars in the distance? Engines from passing space ships, obviously very powerful machines, Ah space: the final frontier. The bricks on the building expanded and morphed until they spun into an oh too familiar sight: Emperor Zurg's Evil Fortress.

Blast! How long had he been brainwashed? Finally he was coming to, but how long had he been out? Days? Weeks? Could be months. His memories were scattered, melting into the reality Zurg has forced him into. But he was stronger than all that! But he could use Zurg's underestimation of him to his advantage. His eyes then found Jessie. How had this poor girl gotten mixed up in this? Was she a spy? A civilian? A comrade? This must be the new partner Star Command has sent him! Regardless, he worked alone and needed to get this girl to safely, no matter how intoxicated her green eyes made him feel.

"I can't believe we're really doing this," Jessie whispered, clasping her hands together. The alley was bleak and dim, but Jessie had never seen a more inviting sight.

"I can't believe this planet has breathable air," responded Buzz faintly, unable to think of another way to greet her or introduce himself._ There's no use getting too familiar_, he told himself, involving someone else in his missions was a recipe for disaster. Jessie turned to her left and saw the overflowing dumpster and assumed that's what Buzz was referring to.

"Just think; Bo is somewhere on the other side of this door," she said, bursting with excitement. _A rescue mission_, Buzz thought to himself, _Of course!_

"It does look like a door, doesn't it?" he said skeptically, stepping forward. "Far too obvious; it must be a trap. There must be another route in."

"Another route? Why-?" Jessie looked up and examined the space and noticed a red blinking light in the corner of the door's frame. It was alarmed! Had they tried to open it, the alarm would've went off and blown their cover! "Good eye, Buzz!" exclaimed Jessie as she ran around to the front of the store. Buzz ran after her, concerned for her safety and intrigued. Jessie's eyes darted until she found what she as looking for. "Bingo!" she sang as she ran towards the mail slot on the shop's main entrance.

"Woah now, hold on," said Buzz stepping in front of her. "Your enthusiasm is appreciated young lady, but I'll take it from here."

Jessie gave him a playful smile as she gently pushed him out of the way. "Buzz, I thought we talked about this," she sighed. "It's dark, I know. I'm fine, I promise."

"Star Command appreciates your bravery," he went on following her. "But I can no longer allow you to risk your safety. This is official space ranger business and I outrank you. Any further interference could result in serious consequences. Now, if you like, I'd be more than happy to write you a letter of recommendation for your-." But before he could finish his sentence, he found the girl had disappeared. He looked around but saw no explanation. The sound of swinging metal drew his eyes upward and he saw her looking down on him as she hung from the mail slot (or what Zurg had disguised as a mail slot)

"Want me to open the door for you?" she said smugly, placing her hands under her chin and giving him a cheeky grin.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid you don't know what you're involving yourself in-," he began to explain.

"'Ma'am?'" laughed Jessie. "Haven't heard that in ages."

"Please, do not move," he continued. "I'll be right up to retrieve you."

"Buzz, you won't fit through the slot," Jessie laughed, but he proved himself determined as he jumped up. As she stepped down, he lunged himself into the mail slot and then... got himself stuck in the mail slot. Jessie looked on, slightly amused as he struggled to free himself. "Now do you want me to open the door?"

"No need," he breathed, pushing and pulling. "A space -ugh- ranger is -err- resourceful! I'll simply use my laser to weaken the metal and slide though."

"Uh huh," said Jessie as she pushed open the door, careful to make sure this one was't alarmed. "Stop playing around Buzz, we need to get going."

Embarrassed, Buzz eased himself back and fell to the ground rather ungracefully. He didn't know why he cared that the cadet saw, but he did. He quickly hopped to his feet in a roll as though he has planned it that way the whole time. He followed the red haired cadet into the fortress, quickly becoming distressed as her casual entry. 'Rookie! Be careful!" he whispered hastily, running beside her, his laser at the ready. "The place could be rigged."

"Don't worry Buzz, I disabled it," she smiled, pointing to the keypad behind her. Buzz lowered his laser, impressed and somewhat disappointed, seeing disarming the traps as a way of redeeming himself in her eyes. Not that he cared what she thought. "Look," he began, clearing his throat as they began to walk inside. ;I don;t know what Commander Nebula told you, but I don't need a partner. But since you're here, I'd prefer it if you refereed to me as 'Captain Lightyear,' 'Captain,' or 'Sir.' Whichever you prefer."

Jessie stopped dead in her tracks as it suddenly dawned on her. Buzz wasn't joking around or talking like this to figure out how to get in the building; he has somehow been reverted to demo mode. She had only seen him like this at Sunnyside, granted now he was less deranged and more entitled, but she couldn't place where exactly this had been triggered. Had he hit his head? Had the paperclip hit him in the back on the way over? Maybe she could trigger his memory back? What had done it last time? A giant television? Surely there was a less dramatic and dangerous way. Regardless of what it was, she had to make sure his current state didn't get him into trouble. The best thing she could do was play along. Thank goodness Rex had insisted they watch the show every Saturday morning so Jessie was more than prepared.

"Actually, captain," she said, adopting a similar tone. "As an admiral, I believe I outrank you..."

"As an...?"

"Please don't interrupt," she declared, pulling him away from the door and under a chair. "This mission is critical, of the highest importance. We need to get in and get out; never be noticed."

"Affirmative," he said with a nod, looking around him. "But why has Zurg disguised his lair as this... common local bartering center?"

"He's trying to throw us off his scent, but it won't work," answered Jessie, enjoying the melodrama. "If you're not up to the task, I'm sure I can ask Star Command to find me another ranger..."

"Not necessary ma'am," he replied with confidence. "I've faced Zurg before; his mind tricks are no match for me."

"Good to hear," she said, looking around the room. "We need to find Bo before dawn, when Zurg's... minions return to the store, I mean the base."

"Copy that!" he exclaimed, springing into action rolling into the hall and then jumping to his feet with his laser ready to fire at any enemy. "I'll make sure the path is clear and we can find a higher focal point to familiarize ourselves with the perimeter."

Jessie let out a sigh of relief as she watched Buzz run ahead, inspecting every shadow he passed. "Maybe this won't be so bad," she said to herself, walking to catch up to him.

"Hopefully Jessie will know what to do once he reverts to his 'I'm a real space ranger' mode," sighed Woody as he put the finishing touches on the small box he had found. "Rex, did the shipping label print?"

"On it's way Woody!"  
"Okay cowboy, I hate to sound like a broken record yet again, but don't you think they can handle this?" asked Dolly, watching him throw bubble wrap into the box. "You can't control everything. Believe me, I should know. If I could this definitely wouldn't be happening."

"Trust me Dolly, I know what I'm doing," he said, his mind made up. "We can't risk anyone getting lost."

"Well, aren't you risking yourself getting lost?" she pointed out. Her words stopped him dead in his tracks. Back in Andy's room, no one questioned him when e had a plan or spontaneously went after a toy that had been misplaced. True, Woody knew Jessie and Buzz were more than capable or taking care of themselves and one another, but his pride was too big to stop now that he had started. Things worked differently in Bonnie's room, yes, but that was one thing he wouldn't surrender. He lifted himself back up to the desk and took the slip out of the printer. "An antique shop?" he read, confused. "Bonnie isn't even in kindergarten yet, what could Buzz and Jessie be getting for her at an antique shop?"

His eyes grew wide as the realization struck him. "It couldn't be..." he whispered. He dare not ask any further questions, not wanting to raise his hopes but not wanting them dashed either. He threw the batteries into the box and hopped in after them as Bullseye sealed him in. As the darkness joined him, he shut his eyes and saw the light that was forever a part of his memories; her light.


	5. Separation

Bo had been given to Molly when she was three months old, the first thing that was truly Molly's, not something she was meant to outgrow like her rattles or one of Andy's toys she could chew on for a few minutes. Bo was in Molly's very first memories, and the porcelain doll took her role as guardian very seriously.

Before the move, all the toys worked together as one unit. Molly and Bo hadn't been with them long, but once they were there the toys couldn't picture the house without them. As crowded as the room became, each addition was welcomed. But when it was announced that Andy and Molly would be getting separate rooms in the new house, it meant authority had to be distributed. With the exception of Woody and Buzz's less than perfect introduction, the move went on without any issues and the toys were excited to have a bigger space.

"Now, normally when Andy goes back to school, we schedule the morning meeting about ten or so minutes after he gets on the bus," explained Woody as he lead Bo between mountains of unpacked boxes. The family had taken a break from unpacking, escaping to the movies for a few hours and the toys were eager to explore their new surroundings. "But last school year, mom was still pregnant so we didn't really factor Molly in. Mom might keep Molly in her room to play after she wakes up or take her downstairs, the pattern still hasn't been established so scheduling the meeting might be difficult. You know, with Andy-."

"We could always just wing it," said Bo sweetly, as he took her hand to guide her over a collection of loose scarves. As much as Bo adored spending time with the cowboy, she found it hard to get his mind off work. But she also found it incredibly endearing.

"Wing it?" said Woody with laugh, half humoring her, half in true disbelief. "Impromptu meetings are fine every now and then, for like emergencies or special events, but if they're not set then toys miss vital information, next thing you know R.C. is missing his controller because no one attended the seminar about mom's new spring cleaning method."

"Well if Molly's room has a different schedule, maybe I can just lead those meetings when it works best for us?"

"Us?"

"Molly's toys," said Bo simply, pointing to the the box labeled as such. "She's only going to get more as she grows up, and there will be times when we can't make it for your meetings, no matter how much we want to." She said the last part in teasing tone she reserved just for him, as though suggesting she was only speaking for herself.

"Well, I guess," said Woody, clearing his throat. He couldn't dispute her logic, but he secretly enjoyed Bo seeing him run the meetings. He knew Andy would be including Bo in his playtime less, since she'd have a more permanent place in Molly's room. But separate meetings meant seeing less of her, and that notion held no appeal for him. "But, ya know, we could just have them a little later if we need to."

"Hmm," hummed Bo, looking around Andy's room knowing Woody had moved several boxes to where he thought they should be, trying to recreate the old room as much as possible, set in his ways. She smiled as he continued to ramble, listing times with two minutes of each other that could work for all the toys and their individual daily activities. "How long does it take you to plan these meetings?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, usually the night before," said Woody, flustered. "Ya know, depending on the time of year, each week is different, ya know? I find having a general layout and theme really helps get key points across and reduce any unnecessary chatter..."

"So since Molly and Andy go to bed relatively early, maybe we could get together and compare notes?" said Bo, fluttering her eyes playfully.

"C-compare notes?"

"Well of course," she continued. "If we're having two meetings, we want to make sure we're on the same page, giving out the same schedule and all that. Looks like we'll be spending a lot more time together, sheriff."

"I, uh, I guess so," he cleared his throat, attempting to remain composed as she sauntered ahead of him. "I can, uh , give you some pointers on uh-."

"Public speaking?" she cut him off, using her crook to pull him beside her, stopping him from running into a pile of board games. "I'd like that."

He laughed, somewhat embarrassed and gave her a timid smile. She leaned on her staff and returned his smile, reaching up to adjust his hat. "What do you think, sheriff? Do I have what it takes to lead a room?"

"I can't think of anyone I trust more," he said.

When Bo left, Molly had plenty of other toys, mostly Barbies and stuffed animals but even then she was proving to outgrow them faster than Andy, her attention turning to music and spending time with her friends. Even with playtime slowly decreasing, the toys needed a leader, guidance. But Woody just couldn't bring himself to enter Molly's room. The spot where she once stood haunted him, and each time he was forced to see it, his heart broke again. So someone else needed to step up and make sure Molly's toys were looked after. That's what Bo would've wanted.

Jessie stepped in, no questions asked. She was often part of Molly's playtime, tea parties and such, and had a good rapport going with the dolls. She had Woody's same flair for speaking and leadership, though there was less drama than Andy's room and creating an itinerary proved less stress. She knew what it was like to have a girl like Molly so she knew what questions the room had and what they needed to hear. She always assured Woody things were fine, and when the conversation turned to Bo, which it often did, she knew to omit that section in her recap.

Buzz took over the daily meetings in Andy's room. Woody didn't ask him to, he didn't need to. Despite the immense presence Bo had in Andy's room, the daily goings-on went on fine without her. The toys put on a brave face for Woody, but the cowboy let the occasion weigh heavily on his heart.

Woody returned to his old self soon enough, the knowledge that Andy relied on him propelled him forward. He picked up where he left off almost seamlessly. He went from isolation back to his to his old self almost over night. The difference was he has started the folder on Andy's computer, and although she was out of sight, he knew she was safe. And he knew she'd want the same for him.

He needed to keep his promise to her. He needed to keep them safe.

Now, as Woody felt the box being picked up but the delivery man, his mind was racing a mile a second. There was no way Buzz and Jessie had really Bo, right? Not without telling him? Had she really been so close by this whole time that he could get to her with expedited shipping? Would she be upset that it had taken him so long to find her? Did she want to be found? In the back of his mind, he knew the answers because he knew Bo. But he had been let down before, breaking his own heart in vain.

Jessie watched in amusement as Buzz dodged and weaved through imaginary traps as they made their way into the store. It was dusty and quiet but very large and the pair didn't even know where to start looking. As Buzz pointed his laser at every shadow, Jessie looked on the rows of shelves for any trace of Bo, but all she found were collections of plates and clocks.

"There must be someone we can ask for help…" she murmured.

"No need, Admiral," assured Buzz as he jumped behind a shelf of books. "Any life forms here are most likely working for Zurg and would lead us astray. I'm confident we're heading in the right direction."

"Are you two lost?" came a voice from above them. Jessie and Buzz looked around, Buzz's laser at the ready of course, but did not see the source.

"Hello?" called Jessie, slightly alarmed.

"Are you two lost?" the voice repeated, its source becoming no clearer.

"Show yourself!" demanded Buzz, stepping in front of Jessie.

"You must be lost," decided the voice, sounding like it was coming closer. "I can help you find your place."

The store had an aggressive silence that even when slightly altered was deafening. So when the speaker came closer, their steps seemed to echo. They seemed to descend a staircase the pair could not see,still unable to pinpoint their location. Then from the shadows behind them, the voice spoke again.

"Is someone coming for you?" it asked, meek and sweet.

"Stand back, it could be a trap!" said Buzz, standing between the voice and Jessie who placed her hand gently on his shoulder and gave him a look to step aside. She slowly walked in front of him and held her hand out as a sign of friendship.

"We're actually looking for someone," said Jessie. "Are you lost?"

"No," it said. "I've been here awhile."

"Oh," said Jessie, the sadness of the comment was not lost on her. "Maybe you could help us find who we're looking for?"

Silence.

"Allow me, Admiral," said Buzz, lowering his laser. "My name is Buzz Lightyear, I am a space ranger, first in my class. My colleague and I are here to end Zurg's tyrannical rule, rest assured we are here to keep you safe, civilian. Please come into the light, lest we attract any guards' attention by staying idle too long."

"You're plastic."

"P-pardon?"

The voice finally made itself known and stepped into the dull light to reveal herself. She was small, barely past Jessie's knee, with a round face that was occupied mostly by her big brown eyes. Jessie could tell by the shine reflecting off her tan face that she was made of porcelain, her hair an abundance of painted black curls. She wore a white, poofy dress decorated with intricate swirls of gold glitter that matched the halo atop her head. On her back was a small set of angel wings. Her face was somehow sad and hopeful as she gazed upward to the strangers.

"Hey there," said Jessie sweetly, getting down to her level. "Why ain't you just the sweetest thing. What's your name, little lady?"

"Seraphina," she said, clasping her hands together. "But you can call me Sera, if you want." Her voice shook slightly, the same way Bonnie's did when she was trying not to cry.

"Well that's beautiful," said Jessie, staying where she was not wanting to frighten Sera away. "Do you know this place pretty well? We're looking for a friend we haven't seen in a long time, Bo Peep? Maybe you know her?"

Sera's eyes got wider somehow. "Bo Peep?" she said, almost afraid. "Um… yes? But I um… don't think I should…" she slowly backed away to return to her shadow.

"No, please!" said Jessie, getting up to go after her. She stepped hesitantly into the shadows,but saw no trace of the porcelain girl. She looked around and ran towards a small noise on her left but as she ran ahead she found herself at a dead end, the side of shelf blocking her. "Darn it! Please come back!" she pleaded. "I promise, we're not scary, right Buzz?" The space ranger did not reply. Jessie looked behind her and saw that he had not followed her in her chase. "Buzz?" she called again to no response. "Buzz!"

"Mission log: stardate unknown," spoke Buzz into his wrist as he walked, unaware that he had wandered away from Jessie. "I have somehow been separated from the Admiral on Zurg's strange planet, roped into a dangerous rescue mission. I have not been given any coordinates or directions, but I feel confident in leading the mission to success. I am currently looking for a mode of transportation, in case a sudden departure becomes necessary. I'm sure the admiral is well, while I find her presence unnecessary, I did enjoy her company. Her red hair resembled the craters of Gloren 7 and her eyes- wait no, that's not essential data how do I delete that?"

Buzz furiously pressed the button on his wrist, not realizing it was simply paper or that the communicator sticker was not there. As he fumbled with the buttons, he neglected his surroundings. His guard down, he wasn't aware he was being watched. He pressed the button on his chest, and the unexpected sound of his own voice slightly startled him. "What kind of-."

_To infinity and beyond!_

"How is that… what is-?"

The more he pressed, the more warped and slow the voice became. His buttons draining his battery quicker than usual.

"Tha-that's me in there!" he chuckled, his words slurring. "What? Is that my conscience or something? Woah!" he took a small step forward and stumbled over his own feet. He regained his composure and felt as though the room was spinning around him. He tried to find his balance, but ended up spinning around until he fell on the floor, landing square on his back. He was barely able to keep his eyes open, staring at the ceiling as it went back and forth between the dark wood it actually was and the starry night sky his mind conjured up.

"Who turned off the gravity?" he whispered sleepily as he fought to keep his eyes open. But his lack of energy combined with how dizzy he was quickly becoming proved this to be a battle he could not win and he surrendered. As soon as his eyes closed, the figure watching him stood over him and dragged him out of plain sight and into the shadows as he began to snore.

"Buzz! Buzz!" called Jessie as she walked into the unknown alone. She searched desperately for the space toy's familiar glow or the faint sound of his voice, but she was offered neither. In his current state, her mind flew to the worst possible scenario. Her mind couldn't decide the right order to do things. Should she find Sera and ask her to show her where Bo was and then have her help her find Buzz? Or just focus on finding Buzz before she found Bo? She suddenly had so many people to find and so little time.

"C'mon Jessie, focus!" she said to herself. "What would Woody do? Probably complain, but after that…?" her eyes ventured upward, of course! If she could get to the top of the shelf, she could have a better view of the whole store! Surely she'd see something that could help her from there, and if not she'd at least have an understanding of the layout. "Perfect!" she smiled, straightening her hat as she ran to begin climbing.

She hopped strategically from shelf to shelf, careful not to kick anything delicate resting on them, lest she draw unwanted attention to herself. She was about halfway to the top, when a voice caught her off guard just before she placed her hand. "What are you doing?" "

"Woah!" exclaimed Jessie, catching herself. She dangled for a moment but quickly pulled herself back up. "Sera? Is that you?"

"You can't be on a shelf!" exclaimed Sera, running over to her. "Shelves are reserved! If they see you up here, we both could get in big trouble!"

"Trouble with who?" asked Jessie, confused. Sera frantically grabbed her hand and led her to the end of the shelf where she lead her down quickly, jumping from shelf to shelf with effortless grace.

"You have to stay down here," said Sera, "The shelves aren't safe."

"Why aren't the shelves safe?" asked Jessie, bending down awkwardly as the angel pulled her forward, struggling to walk at the lowered level. She pulled back to free her hand and faced the doll who began to pace back and forth.

"I don't know how you got in here without her seeing you," said Sera, nervously. "She has the donations monitored and inspected and then decides where they go. She's gonna be mad when she finds out that you snuck in here."

"We weren't donated," said Jessie, still confused. "Buzz and I shipped ourselves here to save our friend."

"Oh no, oh no and you know Bo Peep," said Sera, falling deeper into fear. "This just keeps getting worse! And I'm talking to you! What if she finds out I'm talking to you? I need to go!"

She zoomed away, her small glass feet clicking on the she sped away, she knocked a pile of books behind her creating a divide between her and Jessie in hopes of preventing her from being followed. It was almost like she was doing figure eights, running patterns that only made sense to her.

"Oh no you don't!" said Jessie running after her. "You're not getting away this time!" Jessie kept her eyes locked on the angel, not allowing her strategies to have her leave her sight. She turned just as quickly, her eyes adjusting to the kept moving even when she lost sight, realizing this was like a maze but if she just kept moving she'd find a new path. If she couldn't catch Sera she'd at least be somewhere different.

"What are you doing?" came Sera's voice from beside her. "You need to leave! Please!"

"I'm not leaving without my friends," said Jessie, determined. "If you can help me find them, I'll be able to leave sooner."

Sera let out a high pitched squeak, which Jessie assumed was her version of a scream, and threw her head into her hands. She stomped her tiny feet in frustration and muttered something to herself, far too quick and high for Jessie to understand. "Fine," she whispered at last, scrunching her face as much as she could in a pout as she crossed her arms. Jessie couldn't help but chuckle, reminded of Bonnie throwing tantrums over such silly things. "Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm sorry," said Jessie, covering her mouth with her hand. "It's just that, you're so cute!"

"I am not cute I am furious," she squeaked, her voice wavering. "You're gonna get me in a ton of trouble! Then I'll never get on a shelf!"

"I thought the shelves were dangerous," said Jessie, following the angel as she spoke.

"Only if you don't belong!" answered Sera, throwing her hands in air. She looked back at Jessie and quickly put her arms down, somewhat embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to lose my temper. That was very un-angelic of me."

"Don't worry about it," laughed Jessie. "I really do appreciate your help. It's almost like you're my guardian angel."

"Thank you for your words but I'm a Christmas angel, let's not get them confused," said Sera seriously. Even with her tone, Jessie couldn't help but smile at her energy.

"My apologies," said the cowgirl, though the angel's pout did not leave her face. She was clearly not thrilled about doing something she did not want to do. "So how long have you been here?" asked Jessie, trying to start conversation.

"I've lost count," sighed the porcelain girl. "Hold on I have a calendar somewhere..." she turned sharply to her left, but before Jessie could follow or see where she went she returned somehow from the right, a paper in hand. She handed it to Jessie and continued her trek forward. "I was wrapped in this when my box came here, so probably since then."

Jessie looked at the paper in her hand, dusty and yellowed. It was a photo of a cozy brick house covered in snow, beneath it read: _December, 1977_.

"This is over 40 years old," said Jessie delicately.

"I guess," Sera said, her voice low as though she was distraught that the information had disappointed Jessie. "But, with all that time I know where everything is."

"So where are we now?"

"The lost and found," said Sera, stopping in front of a skinny door, the dark blue paint chipped and the wood scratched. "Nothing valuable ever comes here, and nothing that comes here ever has someone come to find it. So this is the only place she's safe."

"Who?"

"Bo Peep."


	6. Reunited

Buzz awoke still in his deluded state, now fully immersed in the science fiction world he had concocted. He sat on the floor, his head foggy and heavy, and found nothing around him familiar. The planet had morphed into a large furnished area, Buzz suspected it to be a glitch in Zurg's hologram machine but it could also be a drastic attempt to throw him off his game. He had foiled the evil emperor countless times before, no doubt he was resorting to desperate measures. Buzz needed to be more aware than ever.

"Where am I?" he murmured to himself, his eyes struggling to focus. "This looks… sespiecious…" He couldn't hear himself slur or mispronounce his words, but his head swarmed with possibilities and questions, and he was barely able to sit up straight. He brought his communicator up, accidentally hitting himself in the face. "Day star log date: now," he garbled. "I am… somewhere… maybe. The Admiral is gone but its fine I don't miss her. But if she misses me well… anyway the mission is… what is the mission?"

Above him, he heard rattling and a small box suddenly fell down and landed beside him. "Who goes there?" he demanded, his laser at the ready. When he attempted to rise to his feet he stumbled and nearly fell over and couldn't steady his aim.

"Oh you're awake," exclaimed a chipper voice as the rattling stopped. "Don't worry, the batteries are around here somewhere. We'll get you fixed up in no time."

"Show yourself," said Buzz, quickly losing balance and returning to the floor.

"Just a second," said the voice again. "I'm a friend; I promise."

"What have you done with the Admiral?" he said from the ground, only half aware that he had fallen and was facing the wrong direction.

"Oh, you're here with someone?" asked the voice sweetly, trying to change the subject.

"I mean, I not 'with' her, we're together but not 'together', it's all professional. Well right now we're apart but that's really classified information and I don't know if your security clearance is…. Um…"

"I see," the voice replied with a light chuckle, coming down to the ground and walking closer to him. "No luck on the batteries, sorry to say. Guess we'll have to try the other side of the shop."

"Oh no, you're not getting me to no second location," scoffed a very loopy Buzz, spreading out like a starfish which in his mind was significantly more noble than it looked.

"Oh you poor thing," said the voice standing above him now. "Don't fret, I've seen this before. Just a couple of Double As and you'll feel brand new."

"'Double As?' What kind of code is this? Has Zurg sent you?"

"I promise you, I don't work for anyone," she sat beside him to make sure he hadn't injured himself when he fell. "Ya know, I used to know a Buzz Lightyear."

"Um, I am THE Buzz Lightyear." he said hoisting himself back to a sitting position. "And I don't recognize you at all." After rocking himself back and forth, he finally managed to successfully sit back up again. He turned to see the speaker for the first time. In his current state, of course he found nothing familiar about her light porcelain skin, golden hair, or gentle smile. The porcelain doll beside him now had no place in the ranger's history. "Not at all."

She sighed and shrugged, Bo Peep extended her arm to help the space toy up, but he refused and instead tried to pull himself up using the drawer. "Think of me as… a special agent. Special Agent Bo Peep."

"I thought Star Command discontinued that program," he mumbled as he struggled.

"Well regardless," she laughed, watching him attempt to lift himself. "It looks like you're lost and in need of a power source. I'm your best bet so let me help you up and we'll… be…" as he nearly fell over again, Bo caught a glimpse of the bottom of his foot. Like a flash of lighting appeared a word she had seen many times before, even now sometimes when she closed her eyes. At first she thought it was just a smudge, but as she looked closer, there was no denying it was the word 'ANDY.' It couldn't be a coincidence, but it was too good to be true. After all these years! "Buzz?!" she exclaimed, her volume almost knocking him over again.

"Yes, yes always nice to meet a fan," he said, tipping to his left. She ran beside him to catch him before he fell again, practically bouncing with giddiness.

"My old moving buddy, well whaddaya know!" she laughed, to which Buzz offered a confused smile in response. "It's been so long! But it's really you, wow!" But soon Bo remembered that this was not a place that toys ventured to under happy circumstances and her face fell. "Oh, oh I'm so sorry Buzz."

"Don't apologize, nothing wrong with being a fan," he said, his inflection randomly changing. "I'm sure the Admiral has fans too, not that I'm jealous…"  
"That's right! You're with someone!" exclaimed Bo with relief and worry. "Oh my- i-is it Woody?" her hands instinctively went to her skirt, though faded and ripped now, to brush off any new dust she had collected. She stopped herself, not having felt flustered in years and tried to focus. "Oh, I have so many questions, I-...never mind that, we need to get you fixed up first."

"Why would I travel with someone made of wood?" slurred Buzz as Bo helped him to his feet, the shepherdess practically dragging him away, her focus trying its best to remain on him but her mind found its way back to sheriff, after fighting the urge for years.

After much hassle, Bo was able to direct Buzz where she needed to go. Having seen him in this state once before, she knew (somewhat) how to handle the space toy but her new location offered unique circumstances and obstacles.

"Okay, this should be a good spot," she decided as he fell to the floor beside her, having traveled miles in his mind. "You just need to wait here for five minutes while I sneak onto the shelf."

"Negative, ma'am," he protested, face down on the floor. "Buzz Lightyear does not wait; he is a man of action."

"Don't think of it as waiting," said Bo with grand patience, making sure the coast was clear. "I just need you to keep watch."

"I also don't take orders from you," he said matter-of-fact, barely able to hold his head up to be heard.

"Orders? From me?" she replied with faux innocence. "Captain, this was your plan. Don't you remember?"

"This was… my….? Oh, yes of course!" he lied. "I was simply testing tooooo see if you renembered and congradulotions, you pa-assed." he struggled to say each word and found her coming in and out of focus, but his nerve was unwavering.

"Well, I'm glad," she whispered. "Okay, I'll be right back. Stay here and stay quiet."

Bo jumped into the shadows, heading towards the shelves that were in the dead center of the were painted an elegant eggshell white, the contents protected by spotless glass, the reflection of the dim store lights the only indication it was really there. The shelves were under lock a key, but that was no issue for Bo. By the wall was a desk with a container of paper clips and thumbtacks, she took an armful of tacks and stuck them on the side of the shelf to create a makeshift staircase to help her climb up to the lock, using her crook to bring herself up when she ran out. Once there, she stuck the last tack inside and jiggled it around to pick it until it unlocked. When the door opened, she carefully climbed up, careful not to make a sound and accidentally slam the door behind her

Once inside, she made her way down to the second to last shelf and ran to the end. There was what she was looking for; the battery pack for the lights on the shelf. She used her crook to bring the battery pack down to her level without making a sound and checked that her exit was still viable before she opened the pack. Once the lights went out, no doubt there'd be protest and she could be nowhere near the scene of the crime when that happened.

"How's the mission coming Agent?" came Buzz's loud voice from behind her, echoing through the store's empty halls.

Bo Peep turned around quickly and covered his mouth, shoving him into the darkest corner. "Buzz what are you doing?" she whispered harshly, frantically searching for any indication he had been heard. Buzz simply mumbled in response, not removing her hand to answer her. She simply sighed. "I told you to stay back there. We need to get out of here before-."

"Before what exactly, dearest?" asked a voice from behind them. It sounded delicate and friendly, but Bo knew all too well that the opposite was true. The shepherdess turned slowly to face the source, ushering Buzz behind her as she held her crook up high in defense.

Before them stood another porcelain doll, this one a bit taller than Bo Peep and her outfit was more intricate and detailed. Her hair was light brown, collected in large curls under a magnificent purple hat, her bangs swooping perfectly above her forehead demonstrating the careful placement her craftsmanship demanded. Her face was pale and bright, glimmering hazel eyes, real eyelashes, rosy cheeks and hand painted ruby lips. But somehow even more captivating was her dress, lavish skirts a rich purple like her hat with a pattern of black swirls to match the black bodice. With one hand, she lifted them slightly so she could walk without stepping on them, offering a glimpse of the white petticoat beneath and the intricate laced knee-high mahogany brown boots.

The doll offered what appeared to be a pleasant smile, but something about her eyes made Buzz even in his deluded state uneasy. Then when she saw Buzz, her smile vanished and completed the menacing expression.

"Well well, what's this now?" she asked, her tone suggesting she had already decided on the answer. "Bo Peep, who have you brought behind our glass?" She marked the word 'who' as though she believed Buzz unworthy of it.

"This is my friend, Cordelia," Bo snipped back, saying the China doll's name with the same unkind inflection.

"Oh Bo, darling, you're so funny," Cordelia sighed sarcastically. "You know our rules and yet you force me to share the same space as this… plastic man. Pray tell, have you cracked your brain in addition to your arm?"

"She is not very nice," Buzz whispered loudly.

"I know," Bo whispered loudly back, smiling at him before furrowing her brow to confront Cordelia. "Leave us alone, Cordelia, this doesn't concern you."

"Oh, you couldn't be more wrong," she laughed, the others following her lead halfheartedly. "As usual. You know by now what this shelf is reserved for; valuables, collectibles, unique items. Not this mass produced hunk of junk."

"Buzz Lightyear, pleased to meet you," sang Buzz, extending his arm which Bo gently lowered for him, her eyes not leaving the doll before her.

"I just need to find him some new batteries," said Bo. "Then he'll be on his way."

"Batteries," scoffed Cordelia like the word reeked of expired milk. "Of course it needs batteries. Flashy tricks and stickers in place of real craftsmanship. How did you ever end up in such company? And you're attempting to take them from our lights? Appalling!"

"He only needs three," said Bo, her voice low and calm though she was actually enraged.

"Well they're not his to take are they?" scoffed the doll. "They are meant to highlight and guide customers to the real purpose of this shop, and you want to prioritize this future landfill?"

"Watch it..."

"You're in no position to ask anything of me, dearest," said Cordelia, her voice the epitome of elegance barely covering the deviance that lurked beneath the surface. As she tilted her head and stared Bo Peep down, two more figures appeared beside her. They were also china dolls, their outfits nowhere near as extravagant but elegant nonetheless. They blocked any hope Bo had of finding a quick exit. They clasped their hands delicately as stood perfectly still as they listened to Cordelia speak. "This is my shop and nothing happens here without my approval. You had your chance to be on this shelf and you proved yourself unworthy. Yet, I still have to teach you this lesson over and over again..."

The determination fell from Bo's face as she saw where Cordelia was going. "No!"

"... and I tire so of repeating myself," she continued with a fake and insincere yawn. "So it seems placing him with the other unwanted things won't be enough. Looks like your sheep will have some company."

Before Bo could protest further, the dolls at Cordelia's sides lunged forward. One used Bo's staff to pin her against the wall, her feet hovering above the floor as she kicked in rebellion. The other grabbed Buzz by the back of his suit and he was far too confused to fight back or fully understand what was happening.

"Oh, and Veronica," said Cordelia over her shoulder to the doll dragging Buzz away. "Move them up one shelf higher, where the light doesn't reach."

"No!" pleaded Bo, though it was no use. She knew fighting any harder could shatter her and she knew they'd have no regrets if it did. When she was finally released, she tried to run after them but Cordelia knocked her down before she got too far. The impact triggering her old injury and her arm fell from the tape previously securing it and landed beside her. She went to grab it and but before she managed to, Cordelia placed her foot on it. She applied just enough pressure to not break it it but enough that Bo knew she could shatter it in a second. Still, the shepherdess showed no fear in her eyes, only fire as she reached out for it.

"One way or another, you'll learn your place," said Cordelia firmly as she looked down on Bo, narrowing her eyes before kicking the arm over to her and turning to leave. She did not look back but rather knew Bo would not get up to chase them. No now. Cordelia had the advantage now, whatever Bo did next could not be sloppy, had to be planned. They were disposable, just pawns in Cordelia's game, and anything unexpected could lead to their doom.

One the other side of the shop, a box arrived ungracefully at the the side door. Despite saying 'fragile' very clearly on the sides, the box was practically thrown at the door.

"Well how do ya like that!" exclaimed Woody from inside, struggling to open the box as the 'the side up' part was not, in fact, up. He grunted as he pushed the box trying to flip it, but when he finally managed to it was over the edge of the steps and he took a unplanned and unwanted trip down. At least it had turned the box over and he was able to break the flap open and free himself. He kicked away the excess packing peanuts, even coughing one up, before exiting the box and landing face first in a puddle. "Ugh," he groaned, getting up quickly to try and shake off the water. He returned back to the box to retrieve his hat and the batteries and then let out another heavy sigh before heading for the door. "Well, this is it I guess," he said to himself, pushing the batteries through the mail slot and the following them in. "I swear when I find you Buzz I'm gonna kill you."

As Woody looked around the shop, it appeared to be empty. But, little did he know, from just beyond the shadows, he was not alone.


	7. Girls Supporting Girls

"But why is Bo in the lost and found?" asked Jessie, more to herself than to Sera as they looked on at the door. "Do you know how long she's been here?"

"Practically since she got here," said Sera, looking around nervously as though she was terrified to be there. "A couple years I guess."

"Poor Bo," sighed Jessie. "Okay let's go.

"Oh, oh no I can't go in," said Sera. "I just need to make sure you go in and stay off the shelves. Then I need to go back."

"Go back where?"

"Please just promise me you'll stay here," pleaded Sera, moving backwards. "I brought you where you needed to go, okay? So stay here?"

"I still need to find Buzz," said Jessie, ready to chase after the small figurine if she disappeared again. "He could be anywhere; he could be in trouble."

"I could be in trouble!" exclaimed Sera. "Look: you stay here and I'll look for your plastic man. If I find him I'll bring him here, okay?"

"And what if you don't find him?" said Jessie, crossing her arms and clearly not crazy about the 'if' factor.

"He's mass produced! It'll be easy to replace him!" Sera declared dramatically, throwing her arms in the air.

Jessie exhaled sharply and glared down at the angel, her hand in a fist as she choked back her words. "Don't say that," she said simply, her voice low and slow.

"Well it's true!"

"No it's not," Jessie insisted, tossing her braid from her shoulder. She pushed open the door, though inside was just darkness. "Go wherever you need to go, I can do this myself."

"Okay perfect okay okay," muttered Sera, backing away. "Just stay in there and don't go on the shelves and everything will be fine, fine, fine."

"I'll go wherever I have to to find Buzz, if I need up on the shelves so be it," said Jessie.

"Noooooo!" groaned Sera, twisting her dress. "Please! If they find out I helped you I'll never get a place on a shelf and then I'll never leave!"

"Who are you talking about?"

"The china dolls!" she whispered as though saying the name was enough to summon them. "They decide who is seen, and when you're seen you get sold. And they hate Bo Peep! And if they found out I helped you, it'll look like I helped her and then I'll be here forever!"

"That's ridiculous!" said Jessie. "Who could ever hate Bo Peep?"

"There are dangerous things in this shop, cowgirl and she is one of them," said Sera, shaking. "If you're a toy that doesn't follow rules there's no place for you here. It's every toy for themselves. You can't trust anyone."

With those comforting words, Sera returned eagerly to the shadows leaving Jessie alone and more confused than before. Surely, Sera must have confused Bo with someone else. Of course, time can change things, but Jessie was confident that her friend was still as sweet as ever.

**Nine Years Ago**

"Snow day! Snow day!" exclaimed Andy happily running around the room gathering his winter clothes. He shoved his foot into his boot and wrapped his scarf furiously around his neck before shuffling downstairs.

"Molly's already in the car, why don't you go grab your sled," laughed his mom standing beside the door.

"Can I bring a toy?" he asked muffled by the thick scarf as his mother tightened his hat.

"Oh, no way mister," she said. "I'm not risking you losing Woody in a snow bank. Let them stay safe and warm here."

"Okay mom," he said happily, rushing out the door.

"Don't run, don't run! It's icy!"

The toys remained stationary on the floor until the heard the car leave the driveway. One they were sure the family was gone, the room was a collection of excitement.

"Alright gang, I know this is exciting, first snow of the year and all," said Woody from the bed. "But let's not forget winter protocol, so I think we should all gather for a meeting, in about-."

"YE HAW!" exclaimed Jessie from the window, not seeming to notice she had interrupted Woody. "Just look at that! Oh wow, it's beautiful!"

"Okay, calm down Jessie it's just snow,"

"It's the first snow!" she corrected, her face pressed against the frosty glass. "It's the best, fluffiest snow! Oh I can't wait to go outside and-."

"'Outside?'" repeated Woody in scoff and disbelief. "Okay, meeting has been moved up to right now, Buzz help me gather everyone. Where's my checklist…?"

"Still hard at work even on a snow day I see," called up Bo from the doorway, followed by her sheep and Molly's other toys.

"Not without good reason," replied Woody, hopping down to greet her. "Jessie wants to go outside! Can you believe that?"

"Well, it is beautiful outside," said Bo.

"Bo, it's snowing!" exclaimed Woody as though the obvious was escaping everyone.

"You don't say," teased the shepherdess, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Outside is already a high risk factor of getting lost but you add snow and that increases! You heard mom! Ya know, Etch had the statistics lemme see if he still-."

"Andy doesn't bring you outside in the snow," said Bo. "But would it be so awful to see it for yourselves? Who's gonna tell him?"

"Bo…"

She smiled at his pleading face, she knew there was no talking him down now: not until he gave his speech.

"Go and get your statistics," sighed Bo, to which Woody happily obliged, practically skipping to fetch Etch and his notepad. Jessie jumped down and stood beside Bo, her arms crossed and her face obviously less than thrilled about the upcoming lecture.

"Woody doesn't always know best but he always has the best intentions," said Bo softly to Jessie once Woody was out of sight.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Jessie said with a wave of her hand. "He'll jump out of a moving airplane but I guess playing in the snow is where he draws the line," she sighed gently kicking the side of the bed.

Bo laughed. "Just remember you don't always have to do what he says, ya know."

"Bo!" teased Jessie with an exaggerated gasp, though she was genuinely shocked to hear her of all toys say that.

"I mean, listen to him but trust me, he doesn't know everything," said Bo. "He's just a bit dramatic and overprotective. But he trusts you, you've got good instincts. You can take care of yourself."

"I don't know if Woody thinks that," admitted Jessie quietly, looking to the ground away from Bo.

"Jessie?"

"I mean, I let the prospector tell me what to do for years and I never caught on that he was bad news," the cowgirl began. "I just believed all the things he said about kids, about space toys, about toys like you... maybe it is a bad idea. Maybe I should just forget it."

"What did the prospector says about toys like me?"

"He said if I was more like you, ya know more… girly I guess," Jessie said, embarrassed. "That Emily would've kept me. So that's who I blamed for her giving me away."

"And what do you think now?"

"Awh Bo, you're great!" Jessie's face lit up a little now. "You're one of my best friends. I could never hate you."

"And what did he say about space toys?"

"They were the reason we were in storage so long. So that's who I blamed for waiting."

"And what do you think now?"

"Well, I can't speak for all space toys but Buzz is… great."

"Hmm, and I'm assuming he was wrong about kids too?" Asked Bo and Jessie nodded. "Now, I'm not saying Woody is anything like the prospector but he's never been a fan of change. It takes a while for that dog to learn a new trick, but when he does it sticks. A toy gets lost once, he spends weeks thinking of buddy systems and all these lectures, annoying as they may be. But he's stubborn. He sometimes forgets other toys have good ideas too. Sometimes he doesn't look too far for a new answer if he's heard the question before. But you have a different perspective and that can be good. You're the only one here who's had another kid, you've been through things the others haven't. But they might. And sooner or later Woody will see that."

"So what you're saying is… I should go outside?"

"Well it's not everyday that its the first snow of the year," said Bo playfully, giving Jessie a wink. The cowgirl sprang into action, jumping back up the chair and onto the desk. Buzz stood at the top talking to Rex, informing him of the meeting Woody was planning. As Jessie approached him, he nervously began to inform her of the meeting starting soon, but she cut him off by grabbing his arm and making him run with her. He was confused, but in the best way and happily followed her, As they headed out the window, she grabbed a nearby book and when they found themselves on the roof and headed for the edge, she threw the book down and jumped on, pulling Buzz on behind her. The rest of Andy's toys gathered to watch from the window as the pair made their way down on the makeshift sled, landing rather ungracefully in a soft pile of snow.

Buzz's head poked out as her searched frantically for Jessie to make sure she was okay. He found her beside him, making a snow angel. She laughed victoriously and when she saw his eyes on him, she laughed louder. "C'mon Buzz! Make a snow angel!"

The space toy smiled at her obvious joy and shrugged before joining her. His movements were more awkward than hers but her enthusiasm was contagious. She brought her legs up and jumped up to see the finished product. Satisfied, she reached her arm out to help Buzz up so he could see his own. Once up, he examined their creations. Hers was perfect, at least to him but maybe he was biased, and his looked like a round blob. Slightly embarrassed he tried to think of something to say but she simply laughed with glee, delighted to be outside and delighted he was with her. "Ye-haw!" she said, twirling around as the snow continued to fall.

Bo joinged the other toys to watch as the pair jumped around in the snow. The group murme withe xitement.

"Darling, do I have a winter hat I could wear?" said Mrs. Potato Head to her husband. "Winter time is just so romantic."

"Aren't I cold blooded? Won't I freeze?" asked a very concerned Rex.

"Forecast says we're supposed to get 2 to 5 more inches in the night so this is the perfect time to enjoy it while we can," said Hamm, quoting the weather channel.

"All right, we're having the meeting up here I guess?" came Woody's voice as he came to join the party. "Looks like everyone is here.. what are we all...?" Then he finally saw Buzz and Jessie down on the ground directly disobeying him. "Oh come on! Hey! Hey!" he called down to them. They looked up, Buzz with a tinge of guilt but Jessie with none whatsoever.

"Yeah?" called up Jessie as though she had no idea what he wanted.

"What did I say about going outside?"

"That you thought it wasn't a good idea," said Jessie casually.

"And?" called down Woody, growing more furious.

"And I agree," said Jessie, making a snowball with her hands. "I think it's a great idea!" She laughed as she threw the snowball up at the window, hitting Woody in the knee, the excess snow getting his notepad wet.

"Oh, that's real mature," said Woody sarcastically, wiping off the water. "Can you guys believe this?" he asked the rest of the toys. They didn't answer right way, but Bullseye darted past Woody and ran frantically across the roof. He jumped down fearlessly and landed in the snow bank beside Buzz and Jessie who greeted him warmly as she jumped around in the snow, kicking and dancing happily. "Oh great," said Woody. "Anyone else care to miss the meeting highlighting the high percentages of toys being lost in the snow?"

"Snow day! Snow day!" sang the aliens as they followed Bullseye's lead. They made their way to the center of the roof and then rolled down until they themselves became snowballs, rolling off the roof and then safely onto the ground. Mrs. Potato Head followed behind, dragging her husband.

"It's a lovely day to go ice skating, isn't it dear?"

"Of course hun," he said, less than thrilled. "I've got you ice skates packed and ready."

"Peer pressure is forcing me to engage in outdoor activities!" exclaimed Rex as he trudged along as well. Soon enough, all of Andy's as well as some of Molly's toys were either outside or admiring those that were. The army men had to stay back, but kept a close eye that all toys were accounted for in case the snow got too deep.

"This is ridiculous," muttered Woody to Bo as some of the toys started to make a tiny snowman.

"Really? I think it looks like fun," cooed Bo as she watched Jessie help a blushing Buzz keep his balance as the tried to ice skate on a frozen puddle.

"What if they get hurt?"

"Then we'll help them," said Bo simply.

"Well what if they get lost?"

"Then we'll find them."

"Well what if-?"

"They have fun without you?" finished Bo, mischief in her tone.

"I suppose you wanna go and join them, huh?"

"I would if I could," she sighed, her sheep nuzzling her side. "But I'm just as happy sitting here watch the snow fall with you." She stood closer to him and he was suddenly a little less tense.

"Well I suppose a few minutes couldn't hurt," he whispered, placing his arm around her waist, watching as the world outside was covered in a gentle white blanket.

**NOW**

With new determination, Jessie attempted to open the door to find that it would not budge. But that was too minor a detail to stop her, she jumped up and attempted to reach the door knob only to discover that it was locked.

"Is Bo locked inside?" Jessie asked herself, growing concerned. Did they really dislike Bo so much here that they kept her locked away? She cursed herself for not getting here sooner, clearly Bo was in real danger. Now angry, Jessie kicked the door even though she knew it was essentially pointless, but it was all she could do until she though of another plan. At the very least, Bo would know someone was there.

"Bo!" she called between kicks. "Bo! Don't worry! I'll get you out!"

"Well that's one way to knock I suppose," came a soft, familiar voice. Jessie pressed her ear to the door and listened excitedly.

"Bo?" she called.

"Jessie!" said Bo, but it became clear to Jessie that the voice was not coming from behind the door but rather from behind her. She turned slowly and sure enough, there in the dim lighting stood her long lost friend.

"Bo!" exclaimed Jessie, rushing over to the shepherdess. Despite her overwhelming excitement, she made sure to be gentle as she roped Bo into a hug, remembering she was fragile but hugged just tight enough to ensure she was really there.

"As I live and breath!" laughed Bo, returning the embrace. "Oh my goodness! Look at you!" As they broke apart, Bo placed her hands on either side of Jessie's face and the cowgirl smiled wide. "How is it you've gotten prettier?"

"You're one to talk," snorted Jessie. "Look at you! Finally ditched that old petticoat, huh?"

"Thought it was about time for a new look," she laughed, twirling around to show off her skirt. Jessie noticed the edges were torn and frayed and there were a few rips, some covered by patches of mismatched fabric and some not. Her bonnet was gone, showcasing her yellow porcelain hair which had not lost its shine. She was still the same sweet Bo from Jessie's memory, but she showcased a new sense of freedom. Her movements were more wild, less careful. She was less conscious about her fragility than Jessie remembered and she loved that for her.

"I can't believe you're here!" they said in perfect unison, which caused them both to laugh.

"Oh, there's so much I want to tell you!" said Jessie, jumping with excitement.

"And I want to hear it all!" said Bo, just as excited.

"Oh, well Buzz and I-Buzz!" Jessie cut herself off, nearly forgetting her mission was not complete. "I came here with Buzz!"

"Uh-huh, and how is Buzz?" Bo asked in a teasing tone Jessie remembered all too well before Bo shared her revelation. "Buzz! That's right!"

"You've seen him?"

"Yes, and he's not in the best company," Bo informed her in a less happy tone. "I just barely got away. But with you here,we have a better chance of getting him out. And my sheep. C'mon, there's no time to lose!" she declared, picking up her staff and charging forward. "I'll explain on the way! But not before you tell me everything about you and Mr. Lightyear, young lady!"

Jessie laughed and happily followed after Bo. She felt as though had been transported back in time, but this version of Bo was more rowdy and active. As much as Jessie was thrilled to be in this moment, Sera's words kept echoing in her ears, despite everything she knew about Bo.

_You can't trust anyone. _


	8. Catching Up

"So Buzz is being kept in a cabinet in the main room by some snobby china dolls who don't play well with others," explained Bo as they made their way down a narrow path behind a bookshelf. "And they're even less fond of me, so him being a plastic toy plus being my friend? Sad to say he's not in the best company."

"Awh, how could anyone not like you?" asked Jessie, still in disbelief.

"Well…" began Bo trying to find the words as she used her staff to propel her up the shelf, pulling herself up and jumping with ease. "Let's just say they don't approve of how I choose to do things."

"Look at you!" exclaimed a very impressed Jessie, standing at the bottom in awe for a moment before following her lead.

"Well I learned from the best," smiled Bo as she sat on the edge of the shelf, overlooking the the shop. Jessie sat beside her and gazed at the rows of shelves like they were a foreign sea. Was this dusty, dark place really a home to Bo? Could she possibly be happy here? Before she had a chance to ask, Bo spoke.

"We'll have to wait an hour or so," the shepherdess said, swinging her feet. "Buzz's batteries are low and the only spares I know of in his size are in the lights they use to light their display case. We tried a bit earlier to get them, but in his current state… we did not maintain the element of surprise."

"Well, luckily I'm very surprising," laughed Jessie with a tip of her hat.

"So what brings you two here?" sighed Bo. "Were you donated? Lost?"

"Oh no, nothing like that…"

"...romantic getaway?" teased Bo with a smile to which Jessie just laughed. She was glad to have found Bo, but something about telling her they came there for her seemed wrong at the moment. Seeing now that she wasn't waiting around to be sold, that she wasn't scared or lonely like she had feared,Jessie was somewhat relieved. But it hadn't occurred to her that Bo might not be able to go with them, that she might not want to go with them and it wasn't a conversation she wanted to rush and potentially ruin.

"Just an adventure," said Jessie nonchalantly.

"Well since we've got time to kill…" Bo went on, curiosity dancing in her eyes. "How are things back in Andy's room?"

"Well, uh… empty I guess," said Jessie, bring her knees to her chest. She knew this wasn't a sad story; it was a happy story. And she had imagined countless times telling it to Bo, how life in the rooms was after she left and how they had to leave Andy but found Bonnie. Being able to do it now felt utterly surreal and she felt as though she couldn't talk fast enough.

"And now you have a little girl, huh?" said Bo dreamily when Jessie had finished.

"Yup, and she's great," sighed Jessie happily. "We're all really happy there… I think you'd be happy there too."

"Uh, so how is everyone else adjusting?" Bo asked, delicately avoiding answering Jessie. The cowgirl knew when she said "everyone" she really meant "Woody."

"Well…" began Jessie.

A few weeks ago

"Okay Bonnie who are you gonna bring for show and tell this week?" asked Mrs. Anderson as she finished helping her daughter get dressed.

"Everyone!" Declared Bonnie happily, wrapping as many toys as she could in her arms.

"Okay sweetie," laughed her mother as her daughter held the toys closer. "You do this every week. How about this time we pick just one toy? Hmm?"

"Just one?" Bonnie pouted.

"Let's try it out," continued mom. "When you get to kindergarten you can't bring all your toys everyday. Today can be practice. C'mon, let's eat our breakfast and when we get back you can pick out your favorite toy."

"Okay mommy!" Agreed Bonnie, hungry and eager for pancakes. Once she had bounced out of the room, the toys sprang to life and Woody walked over to Buzz on the bed.

"Okay Buzz, while I'm gone today I need you to keep an eye on Rex and Trixie, I know that new video game comes out today and I don't trust them not to charge dad's credit card again."

"Okay but Woody, where-?"

"Oh and I was gonna show Dolly the seating chart idea I had for meetings but I can always do that tomorrow if you can't get to it."

"Fine, but where-?"

"Oh and Slinky wanted to get a checkers tournament going but then we realized a lot of Bonnie's toys don't know how to play. So I was gonna spend the day teaching them but if you could start while I'm gone, I would-."

"Woody, where are you going?" The space ranger was able to ask at last.

"Oh, show and tell," said Woody as though it was obvious. "You heard mom, only one toy today and I think we all know that means, well ya know…"

"I see," said Buzz, not convinced. "I mean don't count your horses, cowboy-"

"It's 'don't count your chickens,' Buzz."

"-but as we've learned in the past there's a chance she won't pick you."

"Oh?" Said Woody before he put together what Buzz was referring to. "Oh! Oh, Buzz I'm not gonna throw you out a window again if you get picked over me!"

"I mean, I didn't think you would but-."

"No, no, no, I just thought it was obvious," continued Woody with a laugh. "Playtime lately has been very western heavy so it wouldn't surprise me if she's just like Andy was at her age. Now, I'm not saying you won't get a turn at show and tell I just think the first solo show… we'll I think I've got it locked up."

"Whatever you say, cowboy," said Buzz with a laugh. He didn't take it too much to heart, he knew this would mean so much to Woody who was more wound up than usual. He watched with a smirk as his best friend polished his sheriff's star and made sure he was in a prominent spot.

While the other toys adored Bonnie, of course, show and tell didn't mean as much to them. What it was in reality was spending most of the day in Bonnie's backpack, crammed between books and pencils cases. Luckily, Bonnie was in the butterfly room so her toys having to ensure the former tyranny had never been much of a factor but the whole ordeal was overly tiring and her indecision often created an overcrowded backpack. So no one else was worried about not being chosen, but to Woody it meant everything.

Finally, Bonnie can skipping back in. Today, she had elected to wear her cowboy boots and Woody took that as a good sign.

"Mommy! Mommy! Can you braid my hair?" Said Bonnie as she ran around her room gathering her supplies and sweater.

"If you can sit down for two seconds of course I can."

"I wanna match Jessie!" Said Bonnie as she set the backpack down on the bed and gently placed the cowgirl inside. She reached over Woody to do so and he would never admit it to Jessie but it stung a little. Bonnie happily ran out to have her hair braided as Jessie made herself comfortable in the bag.

"Well, look on the bright side you can cross off all your errands today!" Said Buzz awkwardly as the two remained motionless awaiting Bonnie's return.

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah of course," Woody said, only half listening.

"Hey, you were right about the western thing… at least." Tried Buzz again, torn between his happiness for Jessie and his sympathy for Woody.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Woody, still staring at the door in some state of disbelief and familiarity. "It's just a phase though, I'm sure she'll bring a different toy every week."

"So you're… happy for Jessie?" Buzz almost hesitated to ask, half afraid of the answer.

"Of course," said Woody, snapping back to his former self. And he was. He'd be happy for any toy Bonnie picked, but his pride was a hard pill to swallow, no matter how many times he had done it. "Of course I am. Are you gonna be okay spending a whole day away from her?"

Buzz smiled, Woody's teasing confirmed he'd be okay. "I'll find a way to manage," he said. "I'm sure there's plenty on your list to keep me distracted. How many toys do we have to teach checkers to?"

As genuinely sure as Buzz was that Bonnie would eventually pick Woody for solo show and tell, Jessie quickly became a regular. Bonnie created a theme, each show and tell she prepared another story starring her and Jessie. One week they were cowgirl detectives, the next was a cowgirl ballerinas, then cowgirl chefs/ninjas. She would workshop the stories with the other toys at home and deliver the summary in class. They became more intricate, she started designing sets, making Jessie additional costumes and having her mother write down her favorites so she wouldn't forget.

In a way, Woody was right. She was a lot like Andy. Bonnie was creative, but Woody wasn't her muse.

"Do you want a crossword puzzle or a word search?" Buzz asked Jessie as she sat in Bonnie's backpack, getting ready to leave.

"Hmmmm, is there a sudoku in there?" She asked as Buzz searched the pile of Dad's brain teaser collection. "Doesn't matter much to me, as long as I have a pencil sharpener. "

"Good idea," said Buzz, folding the paper and putting it in the bag beside her. "Better take two, one for the bus ride there and one for the ride back. Excited for the field trip?"

"Boy am I!" Exclaimed Jessie. "Been looking forward to it all week! Just wish you could come with me."

"Me too," said Buzz with a small smile. "But I'm excited to hear all about it!"

"Are you gonna be okay here with uh-?"

They both looked to the edge of the bed where Woody sat. Slinky was besides him talking but he didn't appear to be listing or even aware the dog was beside him.

"Yeah, he'll be fine,"

"Maybe I should stay and let Woody go…"

"Then Bonnie would be worried she lost you and there's no way Woody would enjoy himself," said Buzz, his logic easing her of her ill earned guilt. "He'll be okay. I'll keep my eye on him, he knows better than anyone that you can't force these things. You deserve to have fun."

She smiled. The sounds of footsteps behind them got louder, and Bonnie's laughter echoed in the hallway. "Bonnie's coming!" Whispered Jessie with excitement as she leaned forward to give Buzz a quick peck on the cheek. "See you later!" She wved as she ducked in the bag and zipped herself up. Buzz took his stationary position beside the bag, nearly failing to hide his goofy smile.

"Hi toys!" Said Bonnie, grabbing her backpack and confirming Jessie was in the front pocket, safe and secure. "Bye toys!" She said and quickly shut the door behind her.

The toys waited a moment to make sure she hasn't forgotten anything, Woody hoping she'd decide to take two toys, but once the car pulled away they resumed normal activity.

"So, have a checklist for today?" Buzz asked Woody, hoping to distract him early on from his dismal mood.

"Um yeah," he said, he voice sounding as though he had just woken up. "I gave it to Dolly earlier. Let me go get it."

"Okay well, I'm sure that's how interest works in a bank but I doubt the dime she gave you last week is worth more now," said an unconvinced Dolly to an insisting Hamm.

"Well next time the ice cream truck comes, we'll see how many fudge bars Bonnie can afford and then we'll talk," said the pig.

"Okay, but then how-?"

"Hey Dolly," interjected Woody before their personalities clashed further. "Do you have the list I gave you earlier to look over? I wanna start checking some stuff off."

"I'll tell you why you're wrong later " said Dolly, waving Hamm away. "Uh yeah, but we can't really do anything until Jessie gets back."

"Um, why?" asked Woody confused. "She's been through the lectures at Andy's, she knows the information. And if she didn't I'm sure Buzz would be more than happy to fill her in."

"Well, no… yeah, that's just it," tried Dolly. "It's spring cleaning and it's the first time Mom's really talked about donating toys or putting some in storage…"

"Yeah, and we wanna make sure everyone's prepared," finished Woody.

"Okay potsy I'm gonna level with you,'' said Dolly. "I've been with Bonnie the longest, we go way back; to the crib. I know squat about this stuff. But Jessie is the only toy who's experienced this stuff first hand."

"Um, no offense but the rest of us were donated too… by Andy."

"Yeah, and I'm sure her experience came in handy," said Dolly but the guilt look on Woody's face told her he didn't utilize her experience in the change. "Okay well, storage is a horse of a different color. I know you all were in the toy box, but mom just redid the basement and Bonnie's getting a baby cousin in a few months, there's a good chance some of the old timers are gonna be in boxes and it's gonna be scary. I asked Jessie to share her story, kind of a Q and A."

"Well, I'm the one who got her out of storage," said Woody a little smugly, crossing his arms.

"Well she's the one who survived storage," said Dolly in a similar defensive tone, also crossing her arms. "You're welcome to help out too Sheriff but truth is the other toys see Jessie as kind of a leader of the room."

"And that… doesn't bother you?" Woody asked carefully, genuinely curious but not wanting to insinuate she should be. "I mean, you said it you've been here the longest. Shouldn't that be you?"

"I think of it more as 'good cop, bad cop,'"

"And you are…?"

"Bad cop," she said simply. "Jessie can rally the troops, have a positive attitude, help everyone get along and I'll yell at them when they step outta line."

"Doesn't sound very equal,"

"You'd be surprised how much yelling is involved," laughed Dolly. "Girls' rooms work a little different Woody and Bonnie is Jessie's third kid; you can't deny that she has more experience with this kind of thing."

He couldn't deny it. But he also couldn't deny his desire to be the one everyone relied on. But Dolly was right; Jessie had earned the title and was doing a great job. He knew he was being a bit of bad sport, but being in the background was not his forte. He didn't know what to do if he wasn't planning something or running a meeting. But they didn't need that from him here.

"So just relax, play some cards, take a walk," continued Dolly, leading him around the room. "You worry too much; you're giving Rex a run for his money."

"We talking money?" Asked Hamm, walking over to rejoin the conversation.

"See how important the yelling part is again? It's a full time job," said Dolly before turning to Hamm. "Alright lets see if the dime has turned into a quarter yet."

The pair walked away, an unwavering argument quickly forming as Woody thought about what Dolly said.

He should be proud, in addition to Jessie he had helped Andy's former toys enough that they were able to pass on their knowledge to Bonnie's toys. When he did call a meeting, he could tell he was repeating himself. It was all things they had already heard. And while he should be proud that his lessons were being passed down, he saw his potential free time as a void.

When they first arrived, a lot of toys saw Bonnie as a chance to start over: a new room, new friends, new playtime. Woody knew it'd be different, he knew it would take time to adjust. But it was like he could never find his footing. He knew it was possible he wouldn't mean as much to Bonnie as he did to Andy and he felt selfish to even think it, but he didn't entertain that notion long. Even when Buzz came, Woody wasn't second banana for very long. He had cowboy camp with Andy, he had always played the hero in playtime (even if he had to share the spotlight with Buzz every now and then) and he was the one mom never even considered for the yard sales.

But as much as Bonnie loved him and took to heart that he was given to her special, he couldn't go back in time and be all those things to her. He couldn't be as sentimental as Dolly, he couldn't be as inspiring as Jessie, and he couldn't assume his former role amongst the toys. He had been demoted. But it was more than that. Before, he had a purpose, several in fact. If he couldn't be with Andy he could advise the toys but now no one… needed him.

But that wasn't Jessie's place to say, so instead she said: "He's Woody."

"That bad, huh?" said Bo knowingly. Jessie nodded. Jessie could've lied to her, but Bo knew better. She always knew better, especially when it came to Woody. "Well he's never been one for change, that's for sure."

"Yeah, Buzz told me about what happened when he first got to Andy's room," said Jessie.

"Yeah? And what else has Buzz told you?" teased Bo, as ruthless on the subject as though no time had passed. Jessie twirled the end of her braid with her finger and scrunched her nose, not knowing where to start.

"Nothing in English," chuckled Jessie. It struck her how long it had been since she'd seen Buzz and although she was enjoying quality time with Bo, she was worried. "He's safe right? Where he is? I mean, they won't hurt him? Should we-?"

"I've dealt with this lot before," insisted Bo. "They're more rude than dangerous. They're not fast and there's plenty parts of the store they won't go near. Avoiding them will be easy, and they can't do much to Buzz if he's already in low battery mode, poor thing probably doesn't even know what's going on. The tricky part will be getting new batteries, they've been hoarding them for months."

"How many do their lights need?"

"Only two, but it's more than that," explained Bo. "They think so low of toys. They consider themselves collectibles, prized possessions and do everything they can to make it harder for toys to get out of here. They hoard batteries, glue, tape, accessories; anything a toy might need to fix themselves, or help them find a kid."

"What did they take from you?"

"My sheep," Bo said solemnly. "That's their leverage over me. So this plan has to go exactly right, I can't risk them getting hurt."

Jessie reached out and touched Bo's hand. "I understand," she said. And of course she did. "We'll get them back, and take those prissy dolls down a peg or two."

"I know we will," she said, more confident than ever before that it was finally true. "Now, we'll need to make it over to the cabinet in about an hour. By then they'll be back to their usual activities; I don't make it a habit of confronting them more than once a day. But they don't know about you, so we can use that to our..."

Bo trailed off, her attention focusing on something in the distance. Jessie followed her gaze but didn't see anything. "Bo?"

"One second," whispered Bo, her hand reaching for her staff as her stare was unwavering. "I need to make sure the floor is safe. Stay up here; I should be right back."

She jumped quietly down to the floor, her movements rehearsed and focused. Jessie fought the urge to follow and whispered down. "What if you aren't?"

"If I'm not back within the hour, meet me at the bottom of the cabinet," responded Bo. "Stay in the shadows and try and stay off the floor. If Beatrice is out, it may sabotage our plans."

"Beatrice?" asked Jessie. "Who's Beatrice? Is that another doll?"

But Bo was already gone from sight before she could answer, leaving the cowgirl alone, wondering who among the three of them was in the most danger. Little did she know, it was actually Woody.

"


	9. At Last

Woody wandered down yet another hallway, unable to make heads or tails of this place. It wasn't very well lit, so everything looked pretty much the same to him and he couldn't tell if he was making progress or just going in circles. He gripped the batteries tightly to his side as he prepared the lecture he'd give to Buzz and Jessie once he found them.

"The nerve of them, running off like that," he muttered to himself. "With no explanation? Who would ever... well I guess I would." he admitted, though it only to himself so it was okay. "Still, there's no way they really found her. I mean, if she was here I- no! No; let's not start this again. Just find Buzz and Jessie and get home. That's the mission."

As he turned the corner he was dismayed to find another row of similar shelves. He found it odd not another toy had not yet crossed his path, but then again this wasn't a toy store. The collections of plates and clocks suggested toys were scarce or even unwelcome here. Surely, his mind told him, Bo could never end up in a place like this. He had no real clue what he was looking for, what could be a sign that his friends had been here but he was sure he'd know it when he saw it. "Buzz! Jessie!" he whispered into the darkness, not knowing if any humans could still be around. At the end of the row, he saw a small form. At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but then the figure started to move! Another toy!

"Hello?" Woody called loudly, confident by their presence that no humans were around. "Hey there, I was wondering if you could help me?"

The toy turned around, but did not approach it moved, Woody could see a bit more detail. It was a tiny stuffed turtle, clearly a very old toy, covered in rips and stains. It was a dull green now, though once obviously vibrant. Woody started to make his way over, but the turtle called out in a hoarse voice before he could.

"Don't move," he whispered in a strain.

"Huh?" asked Woody, freezing immediately. His eyes scanned his surroundings for a human but he saw nothing.

"If you're stuffed," said the turtle slowly. "Don't move."

"If I'm... what do-?"

To his left, heard a delicate shuffle in the shadows. Then, entering the dim lighting like a ghost was a large, slim figure. Stepping so delicately as to not make a sound was a long, gray cat. Black strips all along its back and legs made it seem as though it carried the shadows over. It circled the turtle, seemingly taking no notice of Woody just a few feet over, as the toy sat motionless. Then, it gently hit the toy with its paw. Pleased with the sound it made as it shifted, the cat hit it again, and then again. Swatting it back and forth, jumping into the air with delight. The, the cat took a more menacingly stance and reveled its claws.

Woody could barely watch as the cat sunk its claws into the poor toy's back. As it pulled them out, fractions of stuffing flew to the ground. He frantically searched for some way to help, a way to distract the animal. Then, to his right he spotted a ball of yarn and strategically tossed it passed the turtle. The cat stood, alert and chased after the ball, much to Woody's relief. Woody turned back to check on the plush toy, but saw it was gone. The cat hadn't taken it, but how had it gotten away so quickly? Woody shrugged, thankful it was safe and continued to search for his friends. But as he turned, he found that cat had returned to see the origin of the yarn ball. She squatted, nose to nose with the cowboy. Woody was so close he could vividly smell the tuna on the beast's breath.

"Uh," said Woody nervously. "Hi there!"

The cat hissed in response, and raised a paw high in the air extracting her sharp claws as she did. Woody stood paralyzed, any good hiding spot too far from him as he closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. But just when he thought the impact would hit, he felt something else. He felt something plastic wrap around his neck and pull him forcefully from his spot. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground in the shadows watching the cat look around for him in confusion before taking off in the direction it assumed Woody had gone. Woody was thankful to be rid of the cat, but he shared her confusion, looking around for what had saved him.

"Where-?" He began to wonder and then noticed his hat had flown off in the chaos. "Oh great!" he huffed, looking around to see where it had saw it out of the corner of his eye on the ground nearby and went to bend down to pick it up. Before he could reach it, it somehow vanished. "What the-?" he didn't know whether to be more confused or frightened. He looked around for some sort of explanation, but all his eyes found were shadows.

"Lose something Sheriff?" Came a familiar voice in the dark. His chest tightened and he told himself he must be dreaming. But then, there she was. She stepped into the light, but it was as though the light wasn't there until she stood in it. A most beautiful phantom, twirling his hat on the tip of her finger.

It couldn't be.

"Bo?"

"Hi Woody," she said sweetly.

It was.

She walked closer to him, trying to contain her excitement. "So did-."

Before she could finish the sentiment she had prepared, he rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her. He spun the porcelain doll around as she returned his embrace and laughed. He clung to her as tightly as he could, still unable to believe she was more than a trick of the light. When he finally set her down, his heart leapt finally accepting the reality that it was really her who stood before him.

"Didn't realize you cared about that hat so much," she teased, handing it to him.

"Well, it's the only one I've got," he said, placing it back on his head, his eyes locked on hers.

"You oughta consider gluing it to your head," she went on, as though no time had passed and they saw each other everyday. "Jessie never loses her hat, don't see why you keep losing yours."

"Yeah," he chuckled, soaking in her presence. "Well I- Jessie! Buzz! Oh, that- this… you. They found you!"

"Hmm, huh?" said Bo, also snapping out of her nostalgic trance. "Yes! I mean, I found them. We're actually in a bit of a situation at the moment-."

"Guessing you could use these, huh?" he said, picking up the batteries from the ground where they had fallen in the hassle.

"Same old Woody: always coming to save the day right in the nick of time," said Bo, crossing her arms.

"Yeah," said Woody with a small chuckle. What he really wanted to say was: _If that was true, I would've been here 10 years ago._

_"_Okay, so once we get Buzz back we'll fix him right up," said Bo.

"Get Buzz back? I thought he was with you," said Woody, confused.

"There's been a slight road block," admitted Bo. "But we can talk more about that on the way. We better get outta here before Beatrice comes back."

She took him by the hand and led him and what seemed like a maze under old desks and boxes. "But what about that turtle? The one the cat-?"

"Don't worry about him," assured Bo as they walked. "That's Rico, he's cat toy. He's tough; it's what he's made for. Remember that zebra Buster had? Same company, so he can endure alot. I try to make sure Beatrice only finds him once a day, give him a little break."

"Huh," said Woody with a smile at the familiar feeling of Bo calming his nerves. It was warm, kind, reasonable. The outside chaos could wait, it was deflected from the shield her company created.

"Any pets at your new kid's?" asked Bo.

"Oh, not- how did you?"

"Jessie caught me up," said Bo as they walked by a collection of picture frames. "I know it's been hard for you, but wow Andy held onto you guys for 10 years? That's a long time to be with someone."

"And a long time to be without someone," he said quietly, taking in the familiar details of her face. Her paint had chipped a bit here and there and the color of her hair was more faded but there was no question she was as beautiful as ever. The same kind eyes, the same gentle smile, the same radiance.

"You've had quite the adventure," she murmured, her voice classically low and alluring and suddenly he felt flustered.

"Well, you're one to talk," he said. "Man, I can't tell you how hard I've tried to find you, see how you were doing, to see..." he couldn't bring himself to ever finish that sentence. Woody chose which harsh realities he'd accept and often the ones he refused to ambushed him anyway. But the thought of any harm coming to her, of any fate that wasn't happy, or anything less that what she deserved was instantly dismissed from his mind. He stopped in his tracks and held her hand tighter. His eyes traveled up her arm and lingered on the tape that held her arm together She was chipped and faded, but only on the outside. Her spirit was somehow stronger, and as calming as he recalled. "I missed you like crazy," he said, almost in a whisper.

She squeezed his hand and stepped closer to him. "I missed you too. So much."

They stood there in silence for a moment, the way they used to. Their words had so much weight on them, they had so much to live up to. There was just so much that needed to be said they simply had the calming silence translate what their hearts were screaming in a frantic language. In these moments, it was only the two of them. Whenever they found themselves lost in each others' eyes before, the world around them became a delayed series of echos, words Woody didn't hear until he absolutely had to leave the bubble. He was transported back to simpler time, for a moment.

xxxxx

"Oh, and they would be off in their little world just starring into each others eyes," Mrs. Potatohead recalled fondly, back in Bonnie's room. "Still in the honeymoon phase, after years of being together."

"Whenever Bo Peep was around he'd get all mushy and distracted, you could've punched him in the face and he wouldn't know so long as she was standing in front of him," added Hamm with a laugh. "We got away with alotta stuff."

"Bo was one of a kind, that's for sure," said Slinky with gusto.

"Well she sounds amazing!" exclaimed Trixie. "Ugh, I can't wait to meet her!"

"Indeed!" agreed Pricklepants. "She sounds like quite the leading lady."

"Yeah, Bo was pretty great," said Mr. Potatohead. "The only one who get Woody to stop acting like an uptight lunatic for five minutes."

"Well, I'm excited for potsy," sighed Dolly. "And his goat lady. I look forward to meeting her and having her be the one he annoys with his seating charts to, 'cause honestly I need a break from all that. How many goats does she come with again?"

"Well, they're actually sheep," said Rex. "There's three of them, well technically one? They share a body with three heads-."

"What? No way!" shouted Buttercup. "That's crazy; this I gotta see! Pull it up, pull it up!"

"Okay, okay, Trixie; show us the picture of the goat lady," said Dolly as Trixie began typing. She pulled up the website she had found for Jessie and Buzz earlier and showed them the auction site. There stood Bo on her lamp with her sheep, perfectly picturesque.

"Oh, she's lovely!" mused Pricklepants.

"Yeah!" agreed Buttercup, and then he said silently to Hamm. "Oh, she's way too good for Woody.

"Tell me about it," he chuckled.

"Hey now, what's that?" asked Dolly, pointing at something beneath Bo's picture.

"Oh, she's on an auction website," explained Trixie. "That's just her bidding process, but she's been up for awhile it's nothing to worry about."

"Hmm, yeah okay, then why is the number going up?" asked Dolly. The toys followed her point to see it was true; unlike the day before, the number was no longer at zero.

"Maybe it's a glitch!" panicked Rex.

"Yeah, try refreshing the page!" said Mr. Potatohead. Trixie did so, and much to the group's horror, the number got bigger. They let out a collective gasp as Trixie frantically clicked the mouse looking for an explanation.

"Someone must be bidding on her!" exclaimed Trixie.

"Well stop them!" shouted Mrs. Potatohead. "We can't lose her before she even gets here!"

"Take her down! Delete the file!" added her husband.

"I can't take her down! That's not how the internet works!" yelled Trixie.

"Okay! Okay! Yelling is my job!" declared Dolly loudly, her voice rising over everyone. "If we can't take her down, we'll just have to bid on her ourselves! Buttercup?"

"Yup, I'll go get dad's credit card," he said, trotting off.

xxxxx

"Ugh, what's taking Bo so long?" groaned Jessie, growing restless. She stared at the clock, the hour nearly over and no sign of Bo. She was confident that Bo knew what she was doing, but there was nothing she hated more than waiting. What if there was trouble? And what about Buzz? So much had happened but she was still worried about him and all the mysteries the shop still held. She figured by the time the hour struck, she could be where Bo said to meet, so she decided to head out. She just hoped Bo was okay

At that moment across the shop, lost in her sheriff's eyes despite the chaos and confusion that was sure to follow, she was more that okay.


	10. Reinforcements

Woody, for once, was at a total loss for words as he followed Bo down a dusty hallway . She knew about Bonnie's room, about Andy going to college, what else could he say? He usually had no problem talking about himself, but it felt wrong now. He wanted to know about her, how she was, but at the same time he was afraid. Of what? He couldn't be sure. Was she better off now? Was she miserable? Neither answer would calm him. She missed him, yes, but was she happy to see him? Or was him being here a painful reminder of her past? What words could be significant enough to float over all the doubts he carried?

"How are your sheep?" he asked, noticing the signature animals were not with her.

"Oh, they're doing fine, I'm sure," she said with a small chuckle. "They can handle themselves."

"What? Are they lost again?" he teased.

"Stolen," she said, gently but clearly not matching his playful tone.

"Oh," he murmured, embarrassed. "I'm, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, it's been a rough few weeks," she admitted with a sigh as they entered another hallway, her eyes swept side to side with cautious routine. She seemed on edge but in an odd way she seemed used to it. "But now that you're here, getting them back should be no problem."

"You've got a plan?"

She turned coyly and gave him a soft smile. "You mean you don't?"

"Well I- ha," he chuckled, his heart racing in a familiar way. "I'm sure I could think of something."

"You always do, don't you?" her voice light and sweet again. They were becoming lost in their bubble again and Bo quickly snapped out of it. "Right. Hmm. And uh they don't know you're here. So we have the element of surprise."

"Yeah," he chuckled before he too snapped out of the bubble. "Who took your sheep, anyway?"

"Oh, where are you Bo?" whispered Jessie to herself, her eyes darting between the clock on the wall and her unfamiliar surroundings. She fiddled with her braid as she fought the urge to pace. She couldn't feel at ease. "What was that?" said Jessie for the forth time. She turned quickly but her answer was simply more darkness. "Calm down, Jessie. It's nothing. Just your imagination."

"No it's not!" came a tiny but shrill voice, appearing suddenly beside her.

"Woah!" exclaimed Jessie, nearly falling over. "Sera! What are you doing here?"

"What am I-? Grr!" she balled her tiny hands into tiny fists as she glared a Jessie who couldn't help but think how adorable she looked. "I tell you to stay away, I say this over and over again and yet you still keep showing up! Why does no one listen to me? Not you, not Bo, not your space man..."  
"Buzz? Do you know where they're keeping him?"

"I'm not getting involved!" she exclaimed, her whisper high and airy as she sped away. Jessie followed her, assuming it was more of a lead than she had before. The tiny angel, darted in and out of the shadows, flailing her arms as she did. Jessie kept her in her sights, following her path exactly. Them when Sera was sure Jessie was no longer behind her, she opened a bottom drawer of a cabinet and hopped in. Jessie looked closer and saw a hole was carved into the drawers above it with a small rope through, making a secret pathway through the cabinet. Jessie waited a moment before following, certain Sera was heading back to the source.

She climbed the rope up, the walls closing in on her only for a moment as she made her way up. She saw the pathway connected a few cabinets, boxes, and knick knacks stacked on top of each other. She reached the top and found it became a maze-like tunnel. She crawled through, listening for any sign that she was going the right direction, until finally a faint glow signaled she was going the right way. She quickly made her way, eager to leave the dark but when she finally reached the end, she found herself falling to the ground. Not a big fall, but enough to catch her off guard. Before she could get herself up, she felt herself being held up, her arms seized and her legs useless as she was lifted above the ground.

"Hey, what!" she exclaimed, trying to kick herself free.

"Well well well, not one for grace are we?" a sickeningly sick voice chuckled, though the light in Jessie's eyes prevented her from seeing who. "And who are you?"

"None of your business!" spat Jessie, her eyes slowly adjusting. "I'm-."

"She's got a pull string!" Announced Diana and quickly gave it a tug.

_Hi there, I'm Jessie_! Her voice box rang out, betraying her.

"Jessie the cowgirl," murmured Cordelia. "Is this your little friend, Sera?"

From behind the china doll, the little angel appeared. Her face was drenched in guilt and confusion, but she nodded in confirmation. "Not bad," continued Cordelia, walking closer as her lackeys held the cowgirl. She circled her, taking in each detail of her design. "Hand stitched clothes, quality yarn, and your face is very well crafted," she added, placing her finger beneath Jessie's chin. "Not quite a lady, but not worthless either. Veronica, check her value."

"On it!" Said the doll from the computer, she quickly typed the words into the search bar and began to read what appeared. "'Jessie the yodeling cowgirl original character from the popular 1950's after school television show "Woody's Roundup""

"1950's?" Repeated Cordelia, slightly impressed. "Vintage. Cute. What's her worth?"

"Let's see… she's currently selling for.. woah!" Said Veronica in surprise. "We've got four figures there boss, high four figures."

"Hm, not fragile but still valuable? We may have a use for you dear," said Cordelia. "Play your cards right and you could even have a spot near me."

"What? No!" Yelled Jessie. This assignment of value and being on display was sounding far too familiar. "I'm here for my friend, I'm not here to be displayed and glued to a shelf."

"A friend? You mean that future landfill?" gasped Cordelia in shock when she realized she was talking about Buzz, but it dissolved into a cruel laugh. "You're far too valuable for that. Stay here with us and-."

"Wait for a kid to pick me? No thanks!" Jessie, was able to plant her feet on the ground. "Been there, done that. Besides, we already have a kid."

"Wait… for a child? Heavens no!" She laughed again. "You're second hand, so this may be hard for you to understand, but you're not a toy. Not anymore, at least. You've transcended, something few are able to do. No, we are far better. We are above children and their sticky fingers and juice stains. We are not toys, we are so much better."

"How is any of this better?" Asked Jessie. "Is this really what you want? To sit here collecting dust? Being on display? Never exploring?"

"We are dusted twice a day and kept in a comfortably and controlled climate that extends our warranty and value,"

"Well it's not what I want," said Jessie.

"Fine then, if you need that, that chunk of plastic," she gagged at the word. "to convince you to stay, then I can allow it for the time being. Even for a short while to help you see the error of your ways. I'm sure you'll come around soon enough, and if you don't... well, I've heard his batteries aren't the best. Soon you won;t have much of a choice." She snapped her fingers and the dolls dragged Jessie away. She protested and screamed the best she could but the dolls were too tall for her to find a way out. They threw her to the ground roughly and quickly locked the glass door behind her. She attempted to push the door open, but it was too thick.

"Halt! Who goes there?" came a wonderfully familiar voice behind her.

"Buzz!" she exclaimed as she turned, finding her laser at the ready, though his footing was still off and he was about to tip over.

"Hey! Admiral!" he exclaimed with a smile, dropping her laser and falling into a salute. Literally, falling into it. Jessie ran forward and caught him and lowered him slowly to the ground. "There's no need to worry, Admiral. I've already called Star Command for back up. They'll be sending reinforcements shortly."

"Good to know," she said with a smile, remembering that Bo would be looking for them and together they cold probably think of a solution.

"I can't believe they got you too!" he declared dramatically. "Though, I'm glad to know you're alive."

"Thanks Buzz, you too," she managed to chuckle in spite of herself, relieved to see him again and the dramatic tone of his voice made her feel at ease somehow. "I'm so-."

"Please, let me finish," he whispered, placing a finger to her lips. "I need to say this. I know it may be unprofessional, but in case... this is the end..."

Jessie fought the urge to roll her eyes (in my loving way possible) but allowed him to continue.

"... in case this is the end," he continued. "I can't imagine anyone I'd rather face it with. You're as brave as you are beautiful..."

"Buzz," she blushed, half of her did love the notion and half of her didn't want to embarrass Buzz when he came fully back. "You don't need to..."

"You really don't need to," chimed in a frilly, disgusted voice from outside the glass. Jessie turned and say the leader of the china dolls, staring at them in disdain, her minions at her side sharing the expression. "I'm so sorry, but I don't believe I properly introduced myself. I'm Lady Cordelia."

"I know who you are," said Jessie, getting up and gently letting go of Buzz. "You're bad news. some kind of pretentious, pompous-."

"Such a vulgar tone," scoffed the porcelain doll. "See now being exposed to this… simple way of life and being around these playthings has pained your mind. You clearly don't know your worth, entertaining this pitiful idea of romance? This might be what you think you want but it's certainly not what you need. You'll come around, and if you don't we'll do what we did with Bo Peep."

"Her sheep," Jessie whispered, realizing they'd do the same thing with Buzz. "You can't..."

"Oh, there's no limit to what I can do," said Cordelia. "After the little stunt your _boyfriend_ pulled…"

"My _boyfriend_ was just trying to help!" Exclaimed Jessie, clenching her fists and using all her strength to hold herself back. She continued to argue with the doll, while Buzz looked on his eyes fixated on Jessie. Maybe it was his battery or his regular weakness but the word 'boyfriend' played over and over in his ears like the world's sweetest symphony. His face softened as he watched her scream at the doll, her specific words were hazy to his ears but the world slowed down and seemed to frame her in a soft light, like a vision from a daydream. _I'm her boyfriend_, his inner voice chuckled. _I'm her boyfriend_.

"... like some kind of tea cup!" Jessie finished in a huff. Buzz stood close to her and sighed, still utterly mesmerize

"You're amazing," he mumbled dreamily. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and gave him a quick, tiny smile before locking her eyes back on Cordelia.

"Clearly, this lesson will have to be taught the hard way," said Cordelia, her face sullen and utterly unnamed. She titled her head, and suddenly more dolls appeared behind her. They rushed to the door, half rushing to pin down Jessie and half swarming to Buzz to transfer him to a higher shelf.

"No!" protested Jessie, fighting as hard as she could to be free of their grip but there was just too many of them."Buzz!"

The space toy was dizzy and weak and the dolls were able to move him easily, but once he heard the distress in Jessie's voice something in him shifted and every part of him was filled with energy. He slipped through his captor's grip with ease, as though he was far too fast to be held. He twisted and flipped and the dolls backs way, aware of their fragility and knew to avoid such things. He sense their discomfort in his motion and continued to flail his limbs wildly, kicking and jumping and they backed away from him as he made his way to Jessie. He used his karate chop action to free one hand from their grip and once free she followed his lead and the dolls were now against the wall, not wanting to be cracked.

But, exerting any energy worsened his state, and soon Buzz found it hard to control his movements. His footing got away from him, and Jessie had to act quickly and pushed him passed Cordelia who stood in the doorway. The porcelain doll, quickly stepped aside, having no one to defend her. But Jessie didn't have a clear sense of direction and ended up flying off the shelf and onto the ground, several levels down. They hit the ground hard, and heard Cordelia demand from above. "After them!" as the army of dolls began climbing down from the shelf, carefully but quickly and Jessie tried to formulate a plan. She helped Buzz up and headed for a path she thought looked familiar.

They took a few steps before something pulled them into the shadows so quickly there was almost no time to fight back.

"Shh!"

They watched from between two bookshelves as the army of dolls rushed by, heading down the hall they assumed the pair had went. Soon enough, the mob had gone by and Jessie could turn her attention to the latest ordeal.

"Having fun?" asked a voice that made Jessie's heart stop. She slowly turned and saw the cowboy leaning on the bookshelf, his arms crossed, eyebrows raised and classic smirk on his face that Jessie knew meant a lecture was coming her way.

"Hey Woody," she said quietly with a nervous grin. Beside him, Bo leaned against her staff, her face was more gentle and apologetic for the lecture she also knew was coming since Woody had probably rehearsed it with her.

Buzz sprung up excitedly, his balance still nowhere to be found. A large grin planted itself on his face when he saw his friend the secret agent. "Reinforcements!" he said victoriously, raising his hands in the air.


End file.
